House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut say their Republican colleagues in Congress gave in to Elon Musk’s demands and scuttled a bipartisan government funding bill that would have regulated U.S. investments in China.

Congress passed a separate emergency funding bill over the weekend to avert a government shutdown.

In one Series of posts At X, McGovern felt more could have been achieved. The deleted provision “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge AI and quantum computing technology — as well as jobs — in America,” he wrote. “But Elon had a problem.”

TeslaThe Musk-led company is the only foreign automaker to operate a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery factory near its car factory in Shanghai this year and plans to develop and sell self-driving vehicle technology in China.

“His bottom line depends on staying in China’s good graces,” McGovern wrote of Musk. “He also wants to build an AI data center there – which could endanger US security. He went out of his way to ingratiate himself with the Chinese leadership.”

SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace and defense company, has allegedly withheld its Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan at the request of Chinese and Russian leaders. Taiwan is a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its territory. Taiwan’s status is one of the biggest points of contention in US-China relations.

DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, wrote in a letter He told Congress on Friday that Musk needed “approvals from the Chinese government for his company’s projects in the country.” It’s concerning that Musk “has endeared himself to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,” she wrote.

In the letter, DeLauro referred to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO as “President” Musk, alluding to the fact that the world’s richest person began railing against the previous funding bill on Wednesday before President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement gave him his own.

Trump had wanted Republicans to scale down the bill and pass a new one that would raise the debt ceiling so he could avoid this fight early in his second term. The emergency funding bill that President Joe Biden signed Saturday did not include the two-year suspension of the U.S. debt limit that Trump sought.

Musk responded to DeLauro’s concerns by calling her “terrible creature” in a post on X.

After acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk renamed the company X, helping catapult Trump back to the White House. He became a close advisor and important supporter of the new president.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, Musk donated $277 million to the Trump campaign and other Republican causes in the 2024 cycle. Since the election in November, Musk has been almost constantly present at Trump’s side, including in Meeting with foreign executives.

Trump named Musk to co-lead a group that has not yet been formed but will be tasked with finding ways to cut regulations, staff and budgets.

REGARD: Musk’s influence on government