Elon Musk is no longer an official member of Donald Trump’s administration, and he’s making his true feelings known about the president’s “big, beautiful” bil.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” he wrote Tuesday on X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
“It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,” he added in a subsequent post.
Musk’s beef does not appear to be with the massive cuts the Trump-endorsed reconciliation package makes to social services like Medicaid in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, but the trillions it is expected to add to the nation deficit. His ire could also be tied to the fact that the bill will likely cut tax credits for Americans who purchase electric vehicles, which were a boon to EV manufacturers like Tesla.
The billionaire left the Trump administration amid a sharp decline in popularity, and national protests against his vehicle company fueled by his chaotic and corrupt management of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE haphazardly gutted several federal agencies — ostensibly in the name of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse — jeopardizing some of the government’s most critical public services while enriching Musk’s companies.
Trump and Musk lauded each other during the billionaire’s sendoff last week, but speculation has abounded about the true nature of their relationship. Axios reported on Tuesday that Musk discussed staying in the administration beyond the 130-day limit of his special employee status, but that the White House said no.
It may or may not be true that Musk is “not really leaving” despite his official departure, as Trump insisted last week, but if Republicans hoped that Musk would continue quietly operating as a asset to themselves and the president, Tuesday’s statement was an unwelcome surprise that drew quick condemnation.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson — whose future in Republican leadership depends largely on the success of the legislation — told reporters that “with all due respect, my friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one big, beautiful bill.”
“I know that the EV mandate is very important to him; that is going away because the government should not be subsidizing these things as part of the Green New Deal,” Johnson added, calling out what may be the true cause of Musk’s public opposition to the legislation. “I know that has an effect on his business and I lament that. We talked about the ramp down period on that and how that should be duly considered by Congress.”
“But for him to come out and pan the whole bill is to me just very disappointing […] I just deeply regret that he’s made this mistake,” Johnson said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded by noting that “the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill [and] it doesn’t change the president’s opinion.”
“This is one big, beautiful bill and he is sticking to it,” she added.
Congressional Democrats seized on Musk’s statement. “Breaking news: Elon Musk and I agree with each other,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday. “The GOP tax scam is a disgusting abomination. Every single Republican who voted for the one big ugly bill should be ashamed of themselves. They aren’t helping their constituents, they are hurting their constituents.”
“This bill — the Republicans narrowly passed — limped out of the House of Representatives, and we’re going to work hard to make sure it dies in the Senate,” he added.
It’s not the first time Musk has voiced a strong opinion about a spending bill. Last December, he slammed a stopgap bill, insisting nothing should be passed until Trump takes office. The bill died, Republicans passed a massive spending bill a few months into Trump’s tenure, and Musk is still not happy. Musk’s opinion may not matter as much this time, though, as Senate Republicans work to appease Trump and pass a version of the bill the president can sign into law.
From Rolling Stone US
