Rand Paul, Mike Lee back Elon Musk over Trump-backed bill: ‘We can and must do better'
Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Mike Lee (Utah) are backing tech billionaire Elon Musk's criticism of the House-approved version of President Trump's agenda-setting megabill as it heads to the upper chamber for vetting.
'We can and must do better,' Paul wrote on the social platform X on Tuesday in response to Musk's post that slammed the so-called 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act' as a 'disgusting abomination.'
Lee also chimed in writing, 'The Senate must make this bill better,' in a reply to Musk.
Musk's blistering critique of the measure touted by Trump and House Republican leaders comes just days after the end of Musk's White House role as a special adviser on government spending and de facto head of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk wrote on X, the platform that he runs. 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.'
The massive tax and spending legislation would extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts and boost funding for border and defense priorities, while slashing spending on social safety net programs like Medicaid and food assistance. It narrowly passed the GOP-controlled House in May and is now up for Senate review. But Paul and other senators already have highlighted projections that it would add nearly $4 trillion to the national debt.
Musk voiced tepid disapproval of the measure in a 'CBS Sunday Morning' interview over the weekend and said it 'it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.'
'I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful,' Musk said in the interview. 'I don't know if it could be both — my personal opinion.'
But the more forceful rebuke marked a turn in his criticism and defense of his efforts to curb government waste.
'It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,' he wrote in a follow-up post on Tuesday.
But the White House dismissed the criticism from Musk, who was a top donor to Trump's reelection campaign last fall.
'The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during Tuesday's press briefing. 'It doesn't change his opinion.'
Trump lashed out at Paul on Truth Social earlier Tuesday, accusing the Kentucky lawmaker of voting 'NO on everything' and 'never' having 'practical or constructive ideas.'
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