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WASHINGTON — On Elon Musk's social media site, X, he and Utah Sen. Mike Lee appear to have developed a mutual admiration for one another, frequently agreeing with each other's takes on issues of the day.
Lee, who is in his third term in the Senate, floated both Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as possible House speakers after current House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a 1,500-page continuing resolution that Lee, Musk and Ramaswamy all criticized. The resolution ended up getting pulled from consideration.
Ramaswamy and Musk have been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, a new temporary advisory commission tasked with cutting the size and cost of the federal government.
When asked about his friendship with Musk, Lee said he and Musk have only met in person a few times and have spoken on the phone a few times as well, but they've had a meeting of the minds about the role of the federal government.
Rock stars 'who love federalism'
He called Musk and Ramaswamy "rock stars."
"We've never had a rock star type personality in America who loves federalism and separation of powers, and they both do, so I'm thrilled about that," he said.
When asked specifically about his relationship with Musk, Lee had praise for the rising political figure.
"He's a fascinating human being, and he's one who, until fairly recently, was a Democrat and has become, in addition to being an industrialist, somebody who's revolutionized entire industries and developed a lot of technologies," Lee said. "He's also become not only really interested in American government and politics, but he's also become a fierce defender of structural constitutionalism, of federalism and separation of powers."
Lee has long argued the federal government has too much power, and that its influence have grown beyond its constitutionally mandated authority.
"This is what I have long believed, what I've been arguing for the last 15 years, is most badly needed in Washington, a return to an understanding of the structural constitution, meaning the vertical protection of federalism, the horizontal protection of separation of powers," he said. "It's one of many reasons I like both of them a lot."
