Elon Musk has voiced a rare public disagreement with his erstwhile comrade, criticizing Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” as a threat to the nation’s financial stability.
According to reports, Musk, who is well-known for leading SpaceX and Tesla, expressed worries that the law will worsen the deficit and jeopardize the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) attempts to cut government expenditures.
In an interview with CBS News, Musk, who had previously been a staunch backer of Trump and a significant contributor to his 2024 reelection campaign, voiced dismay over the enormous spending measure.
In the Tuesday interview, Musk criticized the plan for perhaps making the country’s budget imbalance worse.
“To be honest, I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill that undermines the work being done by the DOGE team and actually increases the budget deficit rather than decreasing it,” Musk stated. Under Musk’s leadership, DOGE was in charge of cutting government spending, which included firing thousands of federal workers.
Musk, who had participated in Trump’s government efficiency initiatives, also discussed the conflict between his attempts to reduce unnecessary government expenditure and the bill’s massive spending.
“I believe that a bill can be large or exquisite. However, I’m not sure if it can be both. In the interview, which will be broadcast in its entirety on Sunday, Musk continued, “That’s my personal opinion.”
Significant tax and expenditure cuts are part of the package, which passed the US House of Representatives last week and is now headed to the Senate. Critics say the policies could destroy healthcare systems and increase the national deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years.
The White House attempted to minimize any concerns over government expenditure in reaction to Musk’s remarks. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller clarified that the “Big Beautiful Bill” was not included in the yearly federal budget and that DOGE cuts would have to be handled independently.
Miller emphasized that any reductions to the federal bureaucracy would necessitate a separate legislative process on Musk’s social media platform, 𝕏.
Musk’s comments reveal a mounting dissatisfaction with the difficulties he encountered while leading DOGE. He criticized Washington, D.C.’s long-standing bureaucracy and admitted that his own inexperience with the city’s political climate made it harder to accomplish his goals.
“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” Musk said. I assumed there were issues, but to put it mildly, attempting to make things better in Washington, DC, is a difficult task.
Musk admitted that his efforts were not entirely successful, even though he oversaw the termination of tens of thousands of workers and the significant downsizing of government agencies.
His tenure with DOGE also had a detrimental effect on his enterprises; demonstrators targeted Tesla showrooms, and even arsonists set fire to some of the electric cars, which caused a decline in revenues.
Musk’s focus returned to SpaceX when he resigned from his position at DOGE, where he has encountered numerous obstacles in his attempts to colonize Mars. The company’s prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, marking the most recent of these setbacks.
Musk, who has already committed a sizeable amount of his wealth—roughly $250 million—to backing Trump, declared last week that he will reduce his political expenditure in light of his political activity and its effect on his personal fortune.
