In Elon Musk’s world, Twitter (X) is real life

• Elon Musk has demonstrated his ability to upend Washington.
• Trump allies’ and Musk’s posts have once again shown the power of X.
• Recently, they nuked a government funding bill and possibly saved a cabinet nomination.

Washington better turn on its Twitter, er, X alerts again.

Elon Musk and a loose band of MAGA influencers have shown that even if Twitter wasn’t real life, X just might be.

In recent days, Musk’s platform has been at the center of efforts to save Pete Hegseth‘s embattled nomination to lead the Pentagon and to torpedo the type of 1,000-page, year-end spending bills that have joined the National Christmas Tree as a marker of the holiday season.

Democrats are saying that the world’s richest man is akin to a shadow president. Some Republicans, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, are floating Musk to become the next speaker of the House.

Musk was already set to wield significant power through Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” an advisory panel the Tesla CEO will co-lead with former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump had said relatively little about how Republicans should finish their final business before he returns to the White House. Musk upended that silence on Wednesday when he began a full-on assault on X against Speaker Mike Johnson’s continuing resolution, which would have extended government funding until March 14.

“The voice of the people was heard,” Musk wrote on X, quoting a Republican lawmaker’s comments that cited his influence in helping kill the funding bill. “This was a good day for America.”

Republicans have long complained about how party leaders fund the government with sweeping proposals, via either continuing resolution or omnibus. The conservative opposition then forces Republicans to cater more to Democrats, as leaders have to find the votes somewhere. Case in point, the year-end 2024 continuing resolution included everything from a congressional pay raise to opening the door to Washington’s NFL team returning to the city proper to entice Democrats to support it. There was also $100 billion in disaster relief and a one-year extension to the law that prevents the US from reverting to decades-old farm policies. The total bill was 1,547 pages long.

Musk is also using X to urge Republicans to shut down the federal government if they don’t get what they want, potentially affecting everything from pay for US service members to the status of US National Parks.

This isn’t the first time Trump and his allies have wielded X. His supporters have been highly alert over the president-elect’s Cabinet picks since former Rep. Matt Gaetz pulled out of contention to be the next Attorney General. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, looked to be in jeopardy amid a series of reports about his drinking habits and his treatment of women, including allegations of sexual assault.

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran, expressed concern about Hegseth. In response, a wave of conservative influencers called her out by name on X, and some threatened her with a primary challenge.

“People in Iowa have a well-funded primary challenger ready against her,” Charlie Kirk wrote on X. “Her political career is in serious jeopardy.”

Ernst, amid the pressure campaign and after additional meetings with Hegseth, later signaled a change in tone on Hegseth’s nomination. Without naming her directly, one of Ernst’s incoming colleagues said one senator felt “like the entire world coming after her” for not supporting one of Trump’s nominees.

“She’s being plummeted with threats, with all sorts of things that don’t belong in political arena, and her staff is. And so you talk about pressure, right?” Sen.-elect John Curtis of Utah said at a recent event, per Politico. “And speaking with her, she has to worry about things like, ‘Well, if I vote against this nominee, what happens to my state when I need something from this administration?'”

Musk alone didn’t make X powerful. He is remaking the platform, though, as evidenced by the exodus to Blue Sky and other competitors. He aims to create a free-speech oasis where it is “the best source for truth.”

The X CEO has changed policies on the platform based on polls, including when he reinstated Trump’s prized account after a simple survey. Musk’s posts, including the ones he used to take down the government funding bill, aren’t always truthful, such as when he falsely claimed Congress would receive a 40% pay raise (it was 3.5% at most).

It seems like Musk often just wants to dominate the conversation. And while his lofty goals are still in progress, Congress and the rest of the nation’s capitol can’t afford to ignore him.

They should also turn on Truth Social notifications for good measure.