Greene agrees with Musk ‘to a certain extent' on GOP megabill criticism

The Hill

2 days ago

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said late Tuesday she agrees with Elon Musk 'to a certain extent' after the tech billionaire tore into the GOP megabill full of President Trump's tax and spending priorities.
Greene told NewsNation's 'The Hill' she does not take issue with those who call out the government, including Musk, who called the spending bill a 'disgusting abomination' on social media earlier Tuesday.
'Well, you know, I very much support Elon. And I have supported DOGE,' Greene said, referring to Trump's Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiative.
'I'm one of the people that ran for Congress because I was angry at Republicans,' she added. 'I wasn't angry at Democrats. They say what they're going to do. They support big government. They support massive spending.'
'So I fully understand what Elon is saying and I agree with him to a certain extent,' Greene added.
Still, the Georgia Republican noted the legislation, known as Trump's 'big beautiful bill,' is a step toward stopping Congress's use of continuing resolutions (CR), which are temporary spending bills to keep the federal government open.
'However, I don't want to continue this government on a CR that's funding Democrat and Biden policies and funding and this bill was important to transition to exactly what the American people voted for,' she said.
Greene's comments came hours after Musk, who stepped down from leading DOGE last week, issued a series of posts on X slamming the bill.
'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk posted.
The legislation, officially titled the 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' extends Trump's 2017 tax cuts and boosts funding for border and defense priorities, while cutting spending on programs such as food assistance and Medicaid.
'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,' Musk added.
Around the time of Musk's comments, Greene also took to X admitting she just learned about a provision included in the bill that would ban state regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) for the next 10 years.
'We don't get the full bill text until very close to the time to vote for it and so that was one section that was two pages that I didn't see,' Greene later told NewsNation, adding, 'I find it so problematic that I'm willing to come forward and admit there are two pages that I didn't read because I never want to see a situation where state rights are stripped away.'
The proposal calls for a 10-year moratorium on state laws regulating AI models, systems or automated decision systems. This includes enforcement of existing and future laws on the state level.
Proponents of the moratorium argue a patchwork of state laws can be confusing or burdensome to technology companies to innovate in multiple parts of the country.
Several House Republicans supported the measure, though some emphasized the need for a federal framework to preempt state laws.
'I am adamantly OPPOSED to this [provision] and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted NO if I had known this was in there,' Greene wrote on X.
'I think that's pretty terrifying,' Greene later told NewsNation. 'We don't know what AI is going to be capable of within one year. We don't know what it will be capable of in five years, let alone 10 years.
'And I think we have to protect states' rights to be able to regulate and make laws that they need to make for their states,' she added.
When asked whether the White House should have told her about the provision, Greene emphasized her support for the administration's legislative affairs teams.
'Well, I want to be clear about this. The White House and their legislative affairs team worked very closely with Congress in writing the bill text for the one big, beautiful bill,' she said.
'This was an aligned effort, and President Trump fully endorsed the bill and asked all of us, of course, to vote for it. Me included,' she added. 'I have supported President Trump for years and helped him get reelected.'