Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) began a multi-part statement Saturday on X, with a notable first line, namely:

“Did Elon want to shut the government down because of his business deals with China?”

Similarly, on Friday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Committee, addressed the same concern in a detailed letter to House and Senate leaders.

The issue both representatives were raising involved the urgency of government funding and the looming potential for a government shutdown if an agreement would not reached

Musk strongly opposed the proposed legislation, as Rep. McGovern pointed out because China is Tesla’s second-largest market. With massive factories there and a significant portion of his business tied to maintaining favourable relations with China, Musk’s financial interests were at stake.

When the new budget deal was finalized last Friday, the provision that could have harmed Musk’s business dealings with the Chinese Communist Party—effectively his business partner—was notably absent.

Tesla has heavily invested in China, with its Shanghai “Gigafactory” serving as the company’s largest car manufacturing facility, producing about 50% of Tesla’s global automobile output over the past year.

In May, Tesla also began construction on a new factory in China worth $200 million to produce large batteries essential to its electric vehicle supply chain.

Proponents of regulating U.S. investments in China had pushed for large battery manufacturing to be included in the list of technologies subject to outbound investment screening. The proposed law would have directly affected Musk’s business expansion.