Elon Musk is arguably the most powerful person in business, the most powerful man in media and, at least at this moment, the most powerful man in politics, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei write in a "Behind the Curtain" column.

• Why it matters: This much power, across this many pillars of society, is without precedent. Musk yesterday single-handedly, his voice amplified by his daylong bombardment of scores of tweets on his X platform, sank a 1,547-page, bipartisan House spending bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

💡 It's a breathtaking preview of the new power centers that will rewire Washington beginning with Trump's inauguration 32 days from now.

• A Trump source told us this is the new playbook: Republican lawmakers got "instant and overwhelming feedback. Before, it had to be slowly funneled through conservative press ... [N]ow there is a megaphone."

🏛️ Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who's friends with Trump and Musk, told us: "Both men never give up, and follow through even if it seems impossible. You should never bet against Trump or Elon."

• Now, the two are a combined force blanketing culture, media and governance.

📱 The number of lawmakers genuflecting to Musk on X was astonishing. "My phone was ringing off the hook," said Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. "The people who elected us are listening to Elon Musk."

• If the government shuts down, Musk can take credit or blame. Twelve hours after Musk lit the match with a 4:15 a.m. tweet (now with 37 million views) saying the 3-month spending bill must die, Trump and Vice President-elect Vance upped the ante with a statement saying Congress must raise the nation's debt ceiling now instead of waiting, as expected, until next year. Vance was at the Capitol, participating in closed-door negotiations.
• "Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH," Trump and Vance said. "If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF."
• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), whose speakership looked secure after Republicans kept the House, could lose his gavel after yesterday's revolt — which Musk inspired and stoked.

🔎 Behind the scenes: Musk flexed his intimacy with Trump last night by reportedly joining the table with his rival, Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, as they dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

🖼️ The big picture: Not too shabby for a guy who barely dabbled in politics until the past year or so. Now, Musk is a full-time policy advocate, government cost-cutter, and omnipresent Trump adviser — while running four companies.

• Trump dominates politics, and will do so without peer once in office. But even Trump found himself responding to Musk's crusade to tank the package, which would have extended existing government programs and services at their current levels through March 14.

🎄 But it included disaster relief, assistance for farmers, a new stadium provision for the Washington Commanders — "a true Christmas tree of a bill, adorned with all manner of unrelated policy measures in the kind of year-end catchall that Republicans have long derided," as The New York Times put it.

• Vivek Ramaswamy — co-leader with Musk of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — joined the online barrage. "We the People won," Ramaswamy tweeted at dinnertime. "That's how America is supposed to work."

Between the lines: Remember that Musk is a private citizen, and Trump isn't in office yet.

• X is now the world's most powerful information tool, with Musk as the architect.

⏰ How it happened: "Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!" Musk tweeted in early afternoon, in a post that got 27 million views.

• "THIS CRIMINAL BILL MUST NOT PASS," he added fifteen minutes later.
• Ten minutes after that: "Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel! They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention."
• After the compromise bill was dead, Musk tweeted at 11:23 p.m.: "The will of the people prevailed."

📱 Trump swooped in yesterday after Musk had softened the ground. "Sounds like the ridiculous and extraordinarily expensive Continuing Resolution, PLUS, is dying fast," Trump gloated on Truth Social at 6:27 p.m.

• Trump then denigrated efforts to push through a stripped-down version of the bill. "If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat 'bells and whistles' that will be so destructive to our Country,' he wrote, "all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration. Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried."

Reality check: Musk's tweetstorm included a number of misleading or false claims, as Politico pointed out.

• For instance, the bill doesn't include "a 40% pay increase for Congress," as Musk asserted in a tweet with 26 million views. The maximum raise for members of Congress, whose last pay raise was in 2009, would be 3.8%.

A Trump transition source insisted Musk's power flows only from the president-elect. "There are things Elon doesn't agree with us on that he ain't getting," the source said.

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🧠 Mindmeld with Mike & Jim: Subscribe to our new Axios AM Executive Briefing. Details here.

One of Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio's most challenging tasks won't be abroad but at home, Axios' Barak Ravid writes.

• He'll have to navigate a network of envoys nominated by President-elect Trump to manage key foreign policy issues directly out of the White House.

Why it matters: Rubio has extensive foreign policy and national security experience from his years in the Senate, but he isn't a member of Trump's inner circle.

🔎 Zoom in: Trump has appointed numerous presidential envoys and given them many of the State Department's responsibilities.

• They've already started meeting with foreign diplomats and traveling to the regions they're assigned to work on.
• Rubio, on the other hand, has declined all requests by foreign diplomats and ministers to meet with him, saying he is focused on his confirmation process and staffing the State Department, three sources with direct knowledge told Axios.

The intrigue: Ric Grenell, Trump's pick to be the presidential envoy for special missions, will focus on the "hottest spots around the world," including Venezuela and North Korea.

• A source with knowledge of the situation said Grenell would be best positioned to succeed Rubio if he leaves the administration.

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Audiences have splintered into several information bubbles, based on ideology, wealth, jobs, age and location — making it nearly impossible for big brands to reach every consumer, Axios Communicators author Eleanor Hawkins writes.

• Why it matters: In the age of media fragmentation, it's not just about finding an audience. It's about creating a cult.

🧮 By the numbers: 88% of Americans engage in niche communities, according to a survey by strategic communications and marketing firms Confidant and Vytal.

• 45% of Gen Z, millennial and Gen X Americans feel more connected to these communities than mainstream culture.
• Nearly half flock to brands that cater to specific interests over those with broad, mass-market appeal, with Gen Z being the most likely (53%) to prioritize niche brands.

🖼️ The big picture: The findings reflect a growing demand for authenticity, relevance, and a sense of belonging — which many individual creators and influencers have prioritized when building their trusted audiences.

• This becomes even more important as younger audiences abandon traditional media for information and flock to news influencers and content creators on social platforms.

Keep reading.

This Sunday on "60 Minutes," Lesley Stahl interviews the recently retired Mossad agents who masterminded the exploding pager operation against Hezbollah.

• Why it matters: The stunning, decade-long Israeli plot to manufacture and sell booby-trapped devices sparked chaos among Hezbollah's leadership and helped devastate the group's operations.

The pager attack — and a similar remote detonation of walkie-talkies the next day — was part of a dramatic escalation between Hezbollah and Israel that drove thousands of civilians from their homes on both sides of the conflict.

• Israel ultimately killed Hezbollah's top leaders and reached a ceasefire with the Iran-backed group that remains fragile.

🔭 Zoom in: "60 Minutes" agreed the agents could wear masks and alter their voices to keep them anonymous for the report, which airs at 7:30 p.m. ET (or after football) on CBS and Paramount+.

• The agents told Stahl they tested the devices "multiple times in order to make sure there is minimum damage."
• "If we push the button the only one that will get injured is the terrorist himself. Even if his wife or his daughter will be just next to him, he's the only one that's going to be harmed."

Reality check: Lebanese health authorities said at least two children were among the 37 people killed in the attack. More than 3,400 were injured.

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The Financial Times named President-elect Trump "Person of the Year," citing "the most dramatic comeback in modern US history," with the promise of "a new era of sweeping deregulation and a profound shift to the cultural right."

• Edward Luce notes: "Approaching his ninth decade, Trump is at an unconventional age to be presiding over a change in the global order and a realignment in US politics."

Rahm Emanuel — outgoing ambassador to Japan, and former White House chief of staff, congressman and Chicago mayor — on Democrats' path back to power (via WashPost):

"Campaigns of joy in an era of rage don't win elections. When Donald Trump declared, 'I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,' he was channeling a nation's fury. The online cheerleading for the killer of a health-care insurance CEO in New York City is just more evidence of this seething, populist anger."

Keep reading (gift link).

David Axelrod — whose zeitgeisty "The Axe Files" podcast is a favorite of anyone obsessed with media and politics — is making a surprise exit, with Rahm Emanuel as his final guest.

• "Today's podcast will be the 605th episode of The Axe Files, and, at least for now, the last," says Axelrod, who was a Chicago Tribune political reporter before he became the architect of Barack Obama's historic rise.

Why it matters: "I wanted this podcast to be one small antidote to the coarse nature of today's politics and social media culture that so often reduces people to negative caricatures and robs us of our common humanity," said Axelrod, CNN senior political commentator, and founder of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

"I step away for now because I need to make more time for the next chapter of my own story — for my great and blessedly growing family, for friends and new adventures. But, trust me, I'll miss these conversations and I'll miss you.  And I'm sure we'll meet again.

• "But even without the Axe Files, let us continue to be seekers of each other's stories and penetrate the godawful silos that drive us apart."

🎧 Hear the capstone episode.

OpenAI is introducing a new way to talk to ChatGPT: dialing 1-800-ChatGPT, Axios' Angrej Singh writes.

• Phone calls are available for anyone in the U.S. and include 15 minutes of conversation with ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode.

Messaging ChatGPT on WhatsApp is available to everyone globally.

• Keep reading.