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Musk-funding primary threats scare GOP senators

GOP senators are terrified over the prospect of facing primary challengers funded by Elon Musk if they stick their necks out by opposing President Trump’s agenda.

© Alex Brandon, Associated Press File

The White House has signaled that Republicans who thwart Trump’s agenda by voting against his controversial nominees or opposing efforts by Musk to freeze government funding and slash federal agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, will pay a political price.

And that’s a threat that carries a lot more weight when Musk, the world’s richest person, could easily pour tens of millions of dollars into a Senate Republican primary.

Musk warned Republican lawmakers in December that he was compiling a “naughty list” of members who buck Trump’s agenda. He also pledged shortly after Election Day that his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries” next year.

At the time, the threat was seen as mostly aimed at rebellious House conservatives who loomed as an obstacle to reelecting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and threatened to derail Trump’s tax agenda by insisting on major spending cuts.

But Republican senators have taken Musk’s warning to heart.

“That’s one of the reasons why you see people who are close to an election — Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis — voting for certain nominees,” said one Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss the recent votes of GOP colleagues, including Louisiana’s Cassidy and North Carolina’s Tillis.

“The White House hasn’t been too subtle about that. I think they’ve been fairly threatening,” the lawmaker added, noting Cassidy already faces a primary challenge from Louisiana state Treasurer John Fleming.

The Hill's Alexander Bolton has more at TheHill.com.

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