The senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday criticized billionaire Elon Musk, one of the president-elect’s top allies. Donald Trumpfor his tireless efforts to kill a bipartisan budget deal to maintain government funding last Friday.

Musk has repeatedly criticized the deal on his X platform, formerly Twitter, with Trump appearing to follow suit by publicly speaking out against the bill. Trump too threat support primary challenges against everything Republicans who chose to support the bill.

That leaves open the possibility of a government shutdown starting at midnight Saturday, but Musk suggested Americans should welcome the development.

“Your elected officials heard you and now this terrible bill is dead,” he said. “The voice of the people has triumphed!

Sanders criticized Musk for using his influence to help curb the bipartisan spending agenda that both Democrats and Republicans have been working on it for months.

“Will the Republicans kiss the ring? Sanders request. “Billionaires must not be allowed to run our government. »

In a separate post on his personal account on X, Sanders also pointed out that Musk’s net worth has increased significantly since Trump was re-elected. The senator also suggested that Musk’s apparent attempt to block the bill was an “oligarchy at work.”

Sanders was far from the only lawmaker to challenge Musk’s role in Wednesday’s developments.

“It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-W. D.) wrote on social media, calling Musk a “shadow president.”

Trump’s criticism of the current version of the bill and his call for an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit have surprised members of both parties and increased pressure on his ally, the president of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other Republican lawmakers to develop an alternative plan to avoid a government shutdown.

Although Musk, who is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, does not hold an official position in the Trump administration, his closeness to Trump since his election victory has made him an influential advisor. Republican members of Congress have also embraced the billionaire.

Trump tapped Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a non-governmental advisory group called the Department of Government Effectiveness.

Sanders has already found common ground with Musk siding with the billionaire in his criticism of the size of the government’s defense budget.

“Elon Musk is right,” Sanders said. “The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, has just failed its 7th consecutive audit. We lost track of billions.”