Elon Musk blasts Trump's 'big beautiful bill'

Ya Libnan

28-05-2025

Elon Musk is criticizing the centerpiece of President Donald Trump's legislative agenda, a significant fracture in a partnership that was forged during last year's campaign and was poised to reshape American politics and the federal government.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who supported Trump's candidacy with at least $250 million and has worked for his administration as a senior adviser, said he was 'disappointed' by what the president calls his
'big beautiful bill.'
The legislation includes a mix of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement.
While speaking to CBS
, Musk described it as a 'massive spending bill' that increases the federal deficit and '
undermines the work' of his Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
'I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,' Musk said. 'But I don't know if it could be both.'
His CBS interview came out Tuesday night. White House officials did not immediately respond to questions. Republicans recently pushed the legislation
through the House
and are debating it
in the Senate.
Musk's comments come as he steps back from his government work, rededicating himself to companies like the electric automaker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. He's also said he'll
reduce his political spending
, because 'I think I've done enough.'
Elon Musk says he will cut back on political spending
Judge refuses to toss states' lawsuit against Musk, DOGE
At times, he's seemed chastened by his experience working in government. Although he hoped that DOGE would generate $1 trillion in spending cuts, he's fallen far short of that target.
'The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,' he told The Washington Post. 'I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.'
Musk had previously been effusive about the opportunity to reshape Washington. He wore campaign hats in the White House, held his own campaign rallies and talked about excessive spending as an existential crisis.
He was also effusive in his praise of Trump.
'The more I've gotten to know President Trump, the more I like the guy,' Musk said at one point. 'Frankly, I love him.'
Trump repaid the favor, describing Musk as 'a truly great American.' When Tesla faced declining sales, he turned the White House driveway into
a makeshift showroom
to illustrate his support.
It's unclear what, if any, impact that Musk's comments about the bill would have on the legislative debate. During the transition period,
he helped whip up opposition
to a spending measure as the country stood on the brink of a federal government shutdown.
Speaker Mike Johnson has asked senators to make as few changes to the legislation as possible, saying that House Republicans reached a 'very delicate balance' that could be upended with major changes. The narrowly divided House will have to vote again on final passage once the Senate alters the bill.
However, Musk's criticism could embolden Republicans who want bigger spending cuts. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee reposted a Fox News story about Musk's interview while also adding his own take on the measure, saying there was 'still time to fix it.'
'The Senate version will be more aggressive,' Lee said. 'It can, it must, and it will be. Or it won't pass.'
Only two Republicans — Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voted against the bill when the House took up the measure last week.
Davidson took note of Musk's comments on social media.
'Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the Big Beautiful Bill where the House missed the moment,' he wrote. 'Don't hope someone else will cut deficits someday, know it has been done this Congress.'
The Congressional Budget Office, in a preliminary estimate, said the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over the decade, while the
changes to Medicaid
, food stamps and other services would reduce spending by slightly more than $1 trillion over the same period.
House Republican leaders say increased economic growth would allow the bill to be deficit neutral or reducing, but outside watchdogs are skeptical. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the bill would add $3 trillion to the debt, including interest, over the next decade.
About Republican's 'big, beautiful bill'
House Republicans have narrowly passed a sweeping tax and spending bill and delivered a major victory to President Donald Trump.
It includes extended tax cuts, added requirements for federal benefits eligibility, and an increase to the national debt ceiling – all major sticking points that were agreed upon by a 215-214 vote in the House on Thursday morning.
The more than 1,000-page bill now heads to the Senate, which will have the chance to approve or change provisions of the bill before it reaches Trump's desk.
Here is a look at some of the key items in the bill.
On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to eliminate taxes on Social Security income – monthly payments to people with disabilities and older adults.
The House bill fell short of delivering on that promise, but it did temporarily increase the standard deduction of up to $4,000 for individuals 65 and over. That deduction would be in place from 2025 to 2028.
The deduction extensions begin to decrease after $150,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly and $75,000 for individual filers.
To help finance tax cuts elsewhere, Republicans have added additional restrictions and requirements for Medicaid, the health care programme relied upon by millions of elderly, disabled and low-income Americans.
Changes to Medicaid – one of the biggest components of federal spending – was a major source of political strife that caused significant disagreement among lawmakers.
One of the changes are new work requirements for childless adults without disabilities. To qualify, the bill says, they would be required to work at least 80 hours per month beginning December 2026.
Another change to the programme was requiring re-enrollment to shift from once per year to every six months. Enrollees will also have to provide additional income and residency verifications.
The bill increases the deduction limit for state and local taxes (Salt), a hugely important issue for a few Republican holdouts in some Democrat-controlled urban areas.
There is currently a $10,000 cap on how much taxpayers can deduct from the amount they owe in federal taxes. That expires this year.
In the new bill, House Republicans have raised the Salt limit to $40,000 for married couples with incomes up to $500,000.
This, too, was a major point of contention.
A 2017 law passed under the last Trump administration held the cap at $10,000 and was designed to make room in the federal budget to allow for tax breaks elsewhere.
Reforms have also been added to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), the government programme used by over 40 million low-income Americans.
The new bill requires states to contribute more to the programme, which is also partially funded by the federal government.
It also adds work requirements for able-bodied Snap enrollees who do not have dependents.
The bill makes good on one of Trump's signature campaign promises – ending taxes on tips and overtime pay. Both were successfully included in the bill.
The plan would also allow Americans to deduct interest on car loans for US-made cars only.
The child tax credit is also set to increase to $2,500 from $2,000 through to 2028, exclusively for Americans with social security numbers.
Additionally, the bill proposes increasing the debt ceiling to $4tn . The debt ceiling is the limit on the amount of money the government can borrow to pay its bills.
Lifting the debt limit allows the government to pay for programmes already approved by Congress.
The Senate must approve the bill and could make changes, which some have already signalled they intend to do.
If that happens, it will return to the House for another high-stakes vote.
Trump is urging the Senate to get on board.
'It's time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!' the president wrote on social media on Thursday.
Democrats, who have neither a majority in the House nor Senate, have criticised the bill, particularly on changes to Medicaid and Snap.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it a 'reckless, regressive and reprehensible GOP tax scam' and pledged to use the bill against Republicans in next year's midterm elections.
AP/ BBC