WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk plunged on Tuesday (Jun 3) into the congressional debate over President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending Bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination” that will increase the federal deficit.
Several fiscally conservative Republicans in the US Senate supported the views Musk expressed in social media posts, which could complicate the Bill’s path to passage in that chamber.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending Bill is a disgusting abomination.”
He added: “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Musk’s comments hit a nerve. Republican deficit hawks have expressed concerns about the cost of the Bill, which would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s main legislative accomplishment, while boosting spending on the military and border security.
The House of Representatives passed it by one vote last month, after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the measure would add US$3.8 trillion to the federal government’s US$36.2 trillion in debt.
The Senate, also controlled by Trump’s Republicans, aims to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in the next month, though senators are expected to revise the House version.
Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees tax policy, are due to meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to discuss making the Bill’s business-related tax breaks permanent, according to Senator Steve Daines, a panel member. Analysts have warned that such a move would greatly increase the measure’s cost.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he disagreed with Musk’s assessment about the cost of the Bill and stood by the goal of passage by Jul 4.
“We have a job to do – the American people elected us to do. We have an agenda that everybody campaigned on, most notably the president of the United States, and we’re going to deliver on that agenda,” the South Dakota lawmaker told reporters.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson also dismissed Musk’s complaints, telling reporters, “my friend Elon is terribly wrong”.
