Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

Unelected White House official Elon Musk is desperate for the federal government to grind to a halt — so he can continue dismantling it.

By design, budget reconciliation mostly addresses the parts of federal spending that are not part of the appropriations process. This includes mandatory programs like Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance, student loans and farm aid that get automatically funded unless Congress makes changes to their structure.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a Sunday podcast episode that “damage” from President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk could be “much worse” under a government shutdown.

President Trump signed a funding bill that keeps the government open through September, averting a shutdown after a drama-filled week on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Sen. Chuck Schumer's help for a Republican government funding bill amid speculation she could run for his seat.

The Senate on Friday narrowly averted a government shutdown at midnight, passing a G.O.P.-written stopgap spending measure after Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and a small group of Democrats joined Republicans in allowing it to advance.

The Senate passed a stopgap funding bill Friday to avoid a government shutdown. The measure funds federal agencies through September. Ten Senate Democrats supported the bill, exposing divisions within a party struggling over how to best push back against President Donald Trump's agenda.