Big Beautiful Bill dispute focuses on measure crucial to Trump, Musk in 2024 campaign

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The acrimonious social media salvos over the Big Beautiful Bill arguably mark the most stunning turnabout within the realm of MAGA.
The world's richest man, Elon Musk, is currently trashing the legislation demanded by President Donald Trump and ushered to a razor-thin approval margin in the U.S. House by Speaker Mike Johnson. It would extend the 2017 tax cuts, a signature achievement of Trump's first term, and address border security while Democratic critics say it would gut Medicaid.
Musk posted on X that the legislation is "massive, outrageous, pork-filled" and declared it a "disgusting abomination." Trump has dismissed what he said are "false statements are being made about 'THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL'' and has defended the measure as a "waste, fraud and abuse" slashing measure.
On June 5, Trump said he was "very disappointed" by the opposition from Musk.
"Elon and I had a great relationship," Trump said in answer to a reporter's question in the White House. "I don't know if we will anymore."
The opposite sides taken by Musk and Trump, publicly, are remarkable considering it is both the administration's signature legislative item and the one issue that was central to the Tesla and Space X chief's support for Trump in the 2024 campaign.
Here are five things to know.
In an August conversation between Musk and Trump on X, the billionaire floated the idea of establishing a panel to look at reducing public sector spending.
Musk called for a commission to review federal budget expenditures as the two discussed the reason for inflation. Trump repeated his call to expand drilling to bring down consumer product costs, but the billionaire host insisted price increases resulted from government spending hikes by the Biden administration.
"Sure, but back to this basic thing that people try to make complicated but it's not, inflation is caused by government overspending, would you agree that we need to look at government spending and have a government efficiency commission that tries to make the spending sensible so the country lives within its means?" Musk said.
Soon after, Musk began appearing at Trump campaign rallies — and brazenly promised to cut $2 trillion from the $6 trillion-plus annual federal budget.
About a week after Trump won the Nov. 5 election, the transition team sent out a press release saying Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy would co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Trump said DOGE would procure deep reductions in government spending and wrap up its work by July 4, 2026, America's 250th birthday.
But by the time DOGE got to work, Ramaswamy was out — and off to campaign for the GOP gubernatorial nomination next year in Ohio. Musk and DOGE then set off to work at a much faster pace, sometimes frenetic if not manic.
Pressed by DOGE, for example, some 177 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. military's nuclear weapons arsenal, were reportedly fired in February and then the bulk of those were rehired following an uproar. Moreover, all federal workers were summarily ordered to send a weekly email outlining their activities or be summarily fired. In an Oval Office appearance, Musk admitted DOGE might "make mistakes"{ and "won't be perfect" but would fix errors "very quickly."
All in all, estimates are that as many as 260,000 federal employees were ousted from jobs and savings under $200 billion were achieved. Those would be listed as significant achievements in any other administration, but juxtaposed against the hype and bombast of the Trump White House they were viewed with disappointment by some and even the president reportedly asking if DOGE's accomplishments were "bull----."
There's not a full accounting yet of how much the Musk-led DOGE budget cutting slashed from Florida. Or how it will impact communities across the state. But anecdotes abound.
The Miami office of the National Weather Service, critical to hurricane forecasting, has a vacancy rate of 38%, the highest of the five forecasting offices in Florida, according to the NWS Employees Organization. The NWS says it is hiring for 126 critical positions nationwide, but it is not clear how much DOGE's efforts contributed to the openings.
In Palm Beach County, the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge saw three employees fired in February, while three positions at Biscayne National Park, one position at Big Cypress National Park and 12 positions at Everglades National Park were lost, according to the Association of National Park Rangers at the time.
An oncologist-hematologist said her job offer from the West Palm Beach VA was rescinded on Jan. 21, a day after Trump took office. Federal workers, by the way, continue sending their weekly emails to DOGE documenting what they completed at work.
Most recently, Florida State University lost $53 million worth of funding to DOGE's chain-sawing.
After Trump's victory, Musk became a frequent sight here in Palm Beach County.
He was a ubiquitous presence at Mar-a-Lago during the transition period, and there were reports Musk was scouting for a residence in the area. The DOGE chief was frequently seen deplaning with Trump on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport during a number of the president's 10 trips to the Winter White House through early May.
Along the way, Musk became one of the most unpopular and reviled political figures in America.
Shares in Tesla tanked and polls showed him with high unpopularity ratings. Protests sprung up at Tesla showrooms, including in West Palm Beach where one demonstration almost ended in tragedy when a car sought to ram protesters, according to eyewitnesses and a police report.
Musk also engaged in a tense confrontation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over federal employee dismissals during a White House meeting in March. Trump hosted Musk and the former Florida U.S. senator at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago a few days later.
Trump ally Steve Bannon reported in his podcast that Musk and Treasury chief Scott Bessent were involved in an altercation at the White House in April. That physical confrontation was over the state of budget cutting, Bannon stated.
Almost symbolically, Musk sported a black eye when he appeared at White House last month as his tour of duty with DOGE was concluding.
Musk's preoccupation with the landmark legislation, now before the U.S. Senate, deals with the $2.1 trillion that estimates say it will add to the U.S. national debt — more than 10 times the stated DOGE savings.
Musk has referred to the measure as the"Debt Slavery Bill." He has urged his 220 million followers on X to call their senators and congressmen to warn them that "Bankrupting America is NOT ok!" and calling on them to "KILL the BILL."
He even derided the name of the legislation, which stems from Trump's call on social media and in speeches for one "big, beautiful bill" that encompassed a wish list of measures on a range of policy issues.
'I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful," Musk has said. "I don't know if it could be both.'
Trump disagrees. On June 2 he wrote on Truth Social a statement that attacked Democrats, but did not mention Musk by name.
He wrote: "So many false statements are being made about 'THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,' but what nobody understands is that it's the single biggest Spending Cut in History, by far! But there will be NO CUTS to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. In fact, they will be saved from the incompetence of the Democrats."
Democrats have said the legislation will reduce assistance to vulnerable Americans..
'The Republican budget is a dangerous roadmap—laying the groundwork for the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in U.S. history, all to fund massive tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations,' said U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, after the measure passed in April. 'That means millions of Americans will lose their health care and struggle to put food on the table. A responsible budget should lower costs for hardworking families. That's what I'm fighting for.'
Hard to tell right now but we can pretty much bet the Musk-Trump era will be the focus of both news and history of Shakespearean drama.
Reporting by Palm Beach Post reporter Kimberly Miller was used in this report.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [e-mail]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Big Beautiful Bill dispute focuses on spending crucial to Musk, Trump