Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter {beacon} Technology Technology   The Big Story  Musk's pressure campaign shakes Capitol Hill Elon Musk’s aggressive push against a stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown received mixed reactions from House Republicans, even as it seemed to end in success. © Greg Nash Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leaders of President-elect Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” panel, fired off a series of posts railing against the stopgap spending deal released just days ahead of the Dec. 20 shutdown deadline.     The tech entrepreneurs argued the deal goes against the goals of DOGE, which is focused on reducing government spending and bureaucracy.     Amid their barrage of opposition came a flurry of House Republicans echoing their concerns over the measure, and ultimately President-elect Trump and Vance came out against the continuing resolution (CR) by Wednesday afternoon.   Trump and Vance called for the House to move a "clean" CR paired with a measure to raise the debt ceiling.   House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is now weighing plan B options amid the pressure campaign and seems likely to move toward the president-elect's plan.    One GOP lawmaker described Musk and Ramaswamy as “influential voices” on Capitol Hill when asked about their sway with a seemingly divided Republican conference.     “They’re poised to be very involved in delivering on Donald Trump’s agenda, and we want to help accomplish that, and so we’re going to be working very closely together, and we value their input on bills that are happening right now and the ones that are to come,” said the lawmaker, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.     Urging members not to vote for the CR, Musk described the bill as a big “piece of pork.”     He escalated his rhetoric by the afternoon, calling for any lawmaker who supports the bill to be voted out of office and suggested a moratorium on all legislation until Trump takes office on Jan. 20.     Ramaswamy, in a lengthy post on X, compared the bill to “showering cocaine on an addict” and lamented Congress for trying to rush a vote so close to the holiday season.    When asked whether he has spoken to Musk about the measure, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told The Hill, “I don’t need to. I read his tweets.”     Read more in a full report at TheHill.com on Thursday morning.      Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.   Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:   Supreme Court takes up challenge to TikTok ban The Supreme Court announced it will take up whether a law that could ban TikTok nationwide violates the First Amendment, setting the stage for a fast-paced, high-stakes battle over free speech.  In an order issued Wednesday, the court said it will hold oral arguments Jan. 10 regarding the video sharing platform’s bid to invalidate the law requiring it to divest from its Chinese parent company or face a ban.  …  Full Story   6 in 10 want social media ban for children in US: Survey More than half of voters in the U.S., or 59 percent, want a similar social media ban to the one passed in Australia last month, which barred children under the age of 16 from using the platforms, a new Quinnipiac University poll found. The law in Australia affects social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, X and Reddit, but it will not be enforced for YouTube.  According to the poll, while roughly …  Full Story   Elon Musk: Anyone who votes for spending deal should lose reelection Tech mogul Elon Musk continued his tirade against the newly unveiled end-of-year funding deal Wednesday, calling for any lawmaker who supports the continuing resolution to be voted out of office.  “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote in a post on his social platform X.  “Please call your elected representatives right away to tell …  Full Story   Ramaswamy opposes spending deal: ‘Like showering cocaine on an addict’ Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy slammed the stopgap spending deal, urging congressional members to vote against the massive bill if they are “serious about government efficiency.” Ramaswamy described the stopgap measure as “full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways and pork barrel politics” and lamented Congress for trying to rush a vote so close to the holiday season. “The legislation …  Full Story   The Refresh  News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:   OpenAI launches ChatGPT landline OpenAI has launched a landline at 1-800-ChatGPT, through which users can ask questions to its artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot, TechCrunch reported.   Dutch data watchdog fines Netflix $4.8M The Dutch Data Protection Authority fined the streaming giant €4.57 million, or $4.8 million, for failing to provide customers with enough information about how their data was handled between 2018 and 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported.   In Other News  Branch out with other reads on The Hill: Anti-deepfake porn bill included in funding deal A bill that seeks to fight the rise of deepfake pornography was included in the year-end government funding deal unveiled Tuesday, raising the prospect the legislation could cross the finish line in the coming days.  The TAKE IT DOWN Act would criminalize nonconsensual intimate imagery, including content generated by artificial intelligence (AI), and would require platforms to take down such material after being notified … Full Story   What Others are Reading  Two key stories on The Hill right now: Johnson considers plan B amid Trump World opposition to spending deal Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is looking at a plan B to fund the government ahead of Friday’s shutdown deadline as Republicans inside and outside the … Read more Jeffries suggests Democrats will oppose a ‘clean’ funding bill after Johnson’s plan falters House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested Wednesday that Democrats will oppose any federal spending bill that strays from the bipartisan … Read more     You're all caught up. 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