As Republican fiscal hawks stepped up their criticism of the massive fiscal stimulus package, Donald Trump’s ally Elon Musk sharply criticized the tax bill signed by the president, calling it a “disgusting move” that undermines the budget.
At a crucial moment when Trump was personally lobbying against the bill’s opponents, the public condemnation from this tech giant put him at odds with the president. His remarks could intensify the boycott and delay the implementation of the bill that aims to cut taxes and raise the debt ceiling.
Musk wrote on social media: “This massive, absurd and politically manipulated congressional spending bill is disgusting. Those who voted for it are disgraceful.”
Musk previously served as the head of the government efficiency department’s plan to cut federal spending on an interim basis, but just a few days later he criticized the bill. The high-profile role Musk played in the Trump administration damaged his business brand, leading to a sharp drop in sales of his company’s electric vehicles.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt dismissed these criticisms.
The president is already aware of Elon Musk’s stance on the bill. This won’t change the president’s view. It’s a major and wonderful bill and he will push forward with it, she told reporters on Tuesday.
Utah Senator Mike Lee, a Republican fiscal hawk, seems to agree with Musk’s criticism and emphasizes that the tech leader’s public stance could complicate the passage of the bill. In response to Musk’s post, Lee said, “The Senate must improve this bill.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Musk’s criticism was “very disappointing”. Finance Minister Scott Bessent supported the legislation.
“It’s a very good bill,” he said after meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Tuesday.
The tax bill expected to pass the House of Representatives is projected to reduce federal revenue by approximately $4 trillion over the next decade. Even with cuts to safety net programs such as Medicaid and food stamps amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, the federal deficit is still expected to increase by about $2.5 trillion.
The measure will also gradually phase out the tax breaks for electric vehicle purchases and clean energy production that were introduced during the Biden era. Tesla has criticized these changes.
Tesla Energy, the division of Tesla focused on solar systems and batteries, posted on social media: “Sudden cancellation of energy tax credits will threaten the energy independence and reliability of the power grid in the United States.” Subsequently, Musk himself further emphasized this message.
Musk also publicly opposed Trump’s tariff policy. In the Tesla earnings call in April, he told investors that he advocated “lowering tariffs rather than raising them.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump called fiscal conservative Rand Paul “crazy,” while the president urged reluctant Republican senators to quickly advance his tax and spending plan.
The senator from Kentucky previously said on CNBC that he would not vote for the bill signed by the president because it would raise the legal debt ceiling of the United States.
“I just don’t support doing that. It’s not conservative,” said Paul, who also believes that this tax measure will significantly increase the national debt.
Trump promptly responded with a series of posts on social media, saying that the senator “has never put forward any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are just crazy (loser!)” ”。
Tune said that the debt ceiling must be raised, “failure is not an option”. The US Treasury estimates that the United States will exhaust its borrowing capacity in August or September.
Thune acknowledged that it would take time to reconcile the conflicting demands of the 53 Republican senators and come up with a plan that could win the support of a majority of the 100 senators. All Democratic senators are expected to oppose the legislation.
Tuen told reporters, “We must reach 51, so we will find a way to achieve this goal in the coming weeks.”
Insiders disclosed that Trump plans to meet with the Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the bill.