‘Disgusting abomination’: Musk ramps up attack on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
Washington: Billionaire Elon Musk amplified his criticism of the sweeping tax and spending bill that US President Donald Trump has been pushing fellow Republicans in Congress to embrace, calling it a “disgusting abomination” that will increase the deficit.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote in an X post on Wednesday (AEST).
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.
Elon Musk has ramped up his criticism of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
The House of Representatives last month passed the bill by one vote, after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the measure – which would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s main legislative accomplishment in his first term – would add $US3.8 trillion ($5.9 trillion) to the federal government’s $US36.2 trillion debt.
The Senate, also controlled by Trump’s Republicans, aims to pass the measure in the next month, though senators are expected to revise the House-passed version of the bill.
Trump appointed Musk – the world’s richest person – to lead a government cost-cutting and efficiency drive, during which he upended several federal agencies but ultimately failed to deliver the massive savings he had sought.
Musk left his formal role in the administration last week, as his time as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) came to an end.
The Tesla chief executive also criticised the bill in an interview the week before he left, saying it would undermine DOGE’s work. Trump brushed off the criticism.
This time, Musk came out against it even more strongly.
“It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America [sic] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,” Musk said on X.
The White House dismissed the most recent attack.
“Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a White House briefing.
“It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.”
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who aims to secure passage of the bill in the next month, said he disagreed with Musk.
“My hope is that as he has an opportunity to further assess what this bill actually does, that he comes to a different conclusion,” Thune, of South Dakota, told reporters.
“But nevertheless, I mean, we have a job to do.”
Reuters
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