Rand Paul floats Elon Musk for House Speaker

• Musk has already emerged as one of the most powerful voices in politics and has become one of President-elect Trump's closest confidants.

What he's saying: "Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk," Paul posted on X on Thursday morning.

• "[T]hink about it .  . . nothing's impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka 'uniparty,' lose their ever-lovin' minds)"
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — a frequent Johnson critic — reposted Paul's comments, adding that she'd be "open to supporting Musk" for Speaker.
• "The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday," she said. "This could be the way."

Between the lines: The Constitution does not specify that the Speaker of the House has to be a member of the chamber — though they always have been.

• Non-representative names have been floated over the years during Speaker elections.
• Paul has long been an advocate for slashing government spending, though he is in the wrong chamber to have much say over who will win the Speakers' gavel in January's floor vote.

• Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning that Johnson will "easily remain speaker" if he "acts decisively and tough" and eliminates "all of the traps being set by Democrats" in the spending package.

The other side: Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, are incensed at the outsized power Musk appears to be exercising over the policymaking process.

• "If this is the type of power he has, then he is going to be the unelected co-president of this country and we've got to be super blunt about it," said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.).

— Axios' Andrew Solender contributed reporting.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.