Elon Musk says he’s “disappointed” by the costly new tax and spending package that House Republicans passed last week. In an excerpt from a new interview with “CBS Sunday Morning,” Musk says that the bill undercuts the work of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said in the clip released last night.
President Donald Trump supports the GOP plan, titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in keeping with his moniker for the package. It covers much of his domestic policy agenda, including an extension of his signature 2017 tax cuts as well as new tax breaks for overtime pay, tip income and seniors. The bill would also boost defense and border funding while phasing out clean energy tax credits, cutting nutrition assistance and slashing Medicaid spending by tightening eligibility for the program.
Musk criticized the bill and quibbled with its name. "I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful," Musk told CBS News, "but I don't know if it can be both."
Roadblocks ahead: The bill must still be passed by the Senate, where it is likely to be changed. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rick Scott of Florida have called for steeper spending cuts and greater deficit reduction.
Trump on Wednesday defended the bill, saying it was constructed the way it was to get the votes needed to pass the House. He warned that, without the bill, taxes would soar as some of his 2017 cuts expire. (He warned of a 65% increase, though analysts say that no income group would see a hike that large.) The president acknowledged, though, that the bill was likely to change in the Senate.
“We will be negotiating that bill, and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “That’s the way they go, it’s very big. It’s the big, beautiful bill. But the beautiful is because of all of the things we have, the biggest thing being, I would say, the level of tax cutting that we’re going to be doing.”
Musk, who wore a shirt reading “OCCUPY MARS” for his CBS interview, has already indicated he’ll be stepping back from government and politics and focusing more on his businesses, particularly carmaker Tesla, which has seen sales tumble and investors grow concerned amid waves of protest against Musk and DOGE.
Musk, the world’s richest person, who donated nearly $300 million to help Trump get elected, said last week that he would dramatically cut back his political spending. "In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future," he said via video to an economic forum in Qatar. "I think I've done enough."