Elon Musk seems to be unhappy with the sweeping spending bill narrowly passed by the House at the urging of President Donald Trump.
Musk, in unusual criticism of a cause favored by his ally the president, said in an interview excerpt released Tuesday that the Trump-backed “Big Beautiful Bill” contradicts the goals of his Department of Government Efficiency.
The megabill, which passed through the House by a single vote last week, incorporates much of Trump’s domestic agenda on tax cuts, immigration and other matters.
The billionaire’s criticism could influence the eventual content of the megabill, which faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.
Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a Trump ally, is pushing for deeper cuts to reduce the deficit.
Elon Musk appears dissatisfied with the massive spending bill that was just barely approved by the House at President Donald Trump’s insistence.
In an interview excerpt made public on Tuesday, Musk made the unusual claim that the Trump-backed “Big Beautiful Bill” runs counter to the objectives of his Department of Government Efficiency, criticizing a cause that his ally, the president, supports.
In a full-length interview with CBS on Sunday, the billionaire CEO of Tesla stated, “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”.
The megabill, which was approved by the House last week by a single vote, includes a large portion of Trump’s domestic agenda on issues like immigration and tax cuts.
“I don’t know if it can be both, but I think a bill can be either big or beautiful,” he continued.
Musk promised $2 trillion in savings when he founded DOGE. In addition to roughly 250,000 federal employees losing their jobs and 11 federal agencies being hollowed out or shut down, it claims to have saved taxpayers $160 billion. Based on weekly Treasury data, the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model indicates that overall government spending has gone up.
Given the megabill’s uncertain Senate prospects, the billionaire’s criticism may have an impact on its final content.
Wisconsin senator, Republican. An ally of Trump, Ron Johnson, is advocating for more drastic deficit reductions. The extent of Medicaid cuts and the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits are points of contention for other Republicans.
