The world’s richest manElon Musk’s growinginfluencein Washington that proved pivotal to killing a proposed governmentfunding billhas catapulted him into the conversation for House speaker, at least among two outspoken Republican members of Congress, though earlier attempts to put an outsider in the role have failed to gain traction and were seen as political stunts.
Key Facts
“Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk” as speaker of the House, suggested Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in a Thursday post to Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., responded she’s “open to supporting” Musk for the role as a means of “reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency.”
The suggestions come as some Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, cast doubt on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for the funding bill Johnson backed which Trump derided as “ridiculous and extraordinarily expensive.”
Musk did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment and has not addressed the suggestions on his highly active X account.
Can Elon Musk Be Speaker Of The House?
Yes. The Constitution does not specify the House Speaker must be a member of the House of Representatives, or any sort of elected official. The House Speaker has never been a non-Congress member, but Musk is not the first outsider floated as House Speaker: Trump earned a vote for the role from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in 2023 after the ouster of then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a lengthy process that eventually put Johnson in power.
Forbes Valuation
Musk is by far the richest person in the world, with a $438 billion net worth according to our latestestimates. That’s about $200 billion more than the next-richest person, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whoreportedlyshared dinner Wednesday with Musk and Trump. Musk’s fortune stems mostly from his stakes in the automaker Tesla, aerospace company SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk is more than$160 billionricher Thursday than he was on Election Day after shares of Tesla surged and valuations for the private SpaceX and xAI swelled.
Key Background
Musk donated$239 milliontoward committees supporting Trump’s election bid, making him potentially Trump’s most prolific backer. The centibillionaire has been nearly inseparable from Trump since Election Day,describinghimself as Trump’s “first buddy,” and his close advisory role has earned him themonikerof “unofficial co-president” from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Musk’s official role is as the co-chair of thenewly created“Department of Government Efficiency” commission aimed at reigning in federal spending and regulations. Greene will lead a House subcommittee on the Musk-led initiative.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) walks toward the Senate floor after the Senate stayed in session throughout the night at the U.S. Capitol Building on July 1, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Senate approved President Donald Trump’s signature policy bill Tuesday afternoon after a record-breaking 25 hours of negotiations to win over some final Republican holdouts. Key Facts The Senate passed the legislation 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Three Republicans—Sens. Susan Collins, Maine, Rand Paul, Ky., and Thom Tillis, N.C..—voted against the bill. The 887-page “megabill” includes numerous changes to both the House-passed version of the legislation and the initial Senate draft. These are some of the key omissions and additions the Senate negotiated over the weekend and into Tuesday: Cuts to Medicaid cost-sharing :The amendment proposed by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., would have blocked a significant portion of federal Medicaid funding for some ...
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