Now that House Speaker Mike Johnson has pulled the stopgap spending deal after a flurry of opposition from President-elect Trump's ally Elon Musk and fellow Republicans, the tech measures that were set to hitch a ride are in jeopardy, Maria and Axios' Mackenzie Weinger write.

Why it matters: Throwing out the CR threatens deepfake legislation and other tech add-ons to secure chip supply chains and counter China, sending bill sponsors back to the drawing board.

Flashback: The 1,547-page CR unveiled Tuesday night included a host of tech-related measures, most notably the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which would require platforms to remove deepfake pornography of children within 48 hours of being notified by the victim.

• Other bills to restrict U.S. money flowing to China's tech sector, secure chip supply chains, protect U.S. telecommunications networks from Beijing, and reauthorize the NTIA had also been added to that package.
• Now backers of these tech bills will have to find a new path forward.

"There is still an opportunity for inclusion. Nothing is over on Capitol Hill until a bill gets signed into law," said Americans for Responsible Innovation communications director Chris MacKenzie.

• ARI has been pushing for the TAKE IT DOWN Act and outbound investment restrictions in the CR.

Kids Online Safety Act backers have also still not given up.

• KOSA did not make it into the CR, but Musk has backed the bill and is clearly having a big impact on how lawmakers proceed.
• "Passing KOSA will cost taxpayers nothing, but will save countless children. @elonmusk," bill co-sponsor Sen. Marsha Blackburn said in a post on Wednesday.

Musk posted ceaselessly about his dislike of the CR after it dropped, writing on his social media site X to "Kill the Bill" and calling it "one of the worst bills ever written."

• He also posted that "Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!"
• After dozens of Musk's posts, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance released a statement yesterday blasting the CR deal and calling instead to pass a "streamlined spending bill" and add a debt ceiling increase.

The big picture: It's not clear yet how expansively the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump's advisory commission led by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, could impact policy.

• But they've taken their first big swing with this year-end spending package — and helped to sink it.

What's next: We'll let you know if a plan B emerges, and whether any tech measures make it onto that legislation.

• Congress faces a Friday night deadline to pass a spending bill and avoid a government shutdown.

We're wrapping up the year with a shoutout to the top tech policy moments and people in Washington.

Here's our list of the 2024 Pro Tech Policy award winners, per Maria.

1. Oddest couple: Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn

• They come from opposite ends of the political spectrum — but Blumenthal and Blackburn are fighting together, even now at the 11th hour, to pass the Kids Online Safety Act.

2. Most notable new face on the scene: Elon Musk

• Even before he tanked the CR, the tech billionaire weighed in on all sorts of tech policy issues this year, from KOSA to California's AI bill.
• And his Department of Government Efficiency advisory commission is sure to hit on tech agencies and how AI is deployed in the federal government.

3. Most memorable markup: House Energy and Commerce's canceled APRA markup

• The American Privacy Rights Act had faced an onslaught of attacks from House leadership and industry. But E&C Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers insisted the day before it was scheduled that the June markup for the bipartisan privacy bill would still take place.
• The next day, just two minutes before the markup was set to begin, a staffer informed people gathered inside the E&C hearing room that it had been canceled.

4. Biggest surprise: The TikTok sale-or-ban bill zooms through Congress

• Then-China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi introduced the legislation on March 5, and it passed the House on March 13.
• Things were fairly speedy in the Senate, too: The bill took just a little over a month to reach President Biden's desk as part of the foreign aid and national security package he signed on April 24.

Keep reading.

And our final three awards go to:

5. Biggest legislative fizzle: AI policy

• As we wrote last week, Congress had high hopes of passing AI policy this year and finally getting in the game of helping to set global standards around the technology.
• That didn't pan out, but plenty of lawmakers have told us they plan to reintroduce their AI bills next year.

6. Best quote: House Speaker Mike Johnson on AI, to Maria and Ashley in a September interview

• "But it's new and people are stumbling through it so, you know, I try to give a lot of mercy."

7. Longest lasting legacies: Several heavy hitters are retiring, leaving behind a record of shaping the tech agenda for years.

• CMR tried to give all Americans privacy protections and sunset tech's liability shield.
• Ken Buck left Congress earlier this year, after reaching across the aisle on a blockbuster antitrust report that set the stage for a flurry of legislative pushes to hold Big Tech accountable.
• Sen. Sherrod Brown helped bring millions of CHIPS and Science Act funding to his home state of Ohio.
• And Rep. Anna Eshoo, who championed the CREATE AI Act, fought for California's privacy standards, and told Maria: "I have no plans after retirement, which I think is delicious."

Tech debates over AI, protecting kids online, and remaining globally competitive took on new life in 2024 with a presidential election and shakeup of Congress.

• Here's what Maria heard was most memorable from D.C. insiders.

Craig Albright of BSA: "The dam on AI regulation started to break this year — not in Washington, but in statehouses across the country."

• "After bills passed in Colorado and California, batten down the hatches in 2025, because a wave is coming."

Brad Carson of Americans for Responsible Innovation: "This was the year the wall came down between AI developers and the defense industry."

• "For the Trump Administration, that's going to mean more tools for revamping national security, but also more questions on how these tools can be safely deployed with human oversight."

Meredith Attwell Baker of CTIA – The Wireless Association: "This year was the 30th anniversary of the first spectrum auction."

• "This innovative form of allocation spectrum won the Nobel Prize and raised more than $233B for the US Treasury. This anniversary highlighted how important renewing auction authority with a pipeline of 5G spectrum is for America's innovation leadership and economic competitiveness."

Josh Golin of Fairplay: While advocates are still fighting for the Kids Online Safety Act, Golin said what was most memorable to him "was the amazing survivor parents who lost their children to online harms and worked tirelessly to promote KOSA so no other family has to experience their pain."

• "Thanks to these moms and dads, I can envision a day when Big Tech can no longer send our kids down deadly rabbit holes or make them vulnerable to predators and mental health harms."