Musk ‘Disappointed’ At Trump’s Tax Cut, Spending Bill
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has voiced his disapproval of President Donald Trump’s newly introduced tax and spending bill, warning that the legislation undermines his efforts to cut federal spending.
Musk, who currently leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tasked with cutting bureaucratic waste and reducing the deficit, criticised the bill for doing the opposite.
“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 a CBS News interview to be aired on Sunday.
The legislation, officially titled the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” narrowly passed the House of Representatives last Thursday with a vote of 215 to 214.
Two Republican lawmakers voted against the bill while House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris voted “present.” The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future remains uncertain.
The bill described by Trump as a cornerstone of his second-term agenda, includes an extension of the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts, elimination of federal taxes on tips and overtime pay.
It also includes expanded deductions for seniors, and new incentives for purchasing American-made vehicles. It further proposes the creation of “Trump Savings Accounts” for newborns.
While the bill includes $1.5tr in spending cuts, largely by scaling back programs expanded during the former President Joe Biden administration, it also adds trillions in new tax relief and defense expenditures.
Among the biggest-ticket items, is a $25bn fund for a new missile defense system dubbed the “Golden Dome.”
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill’s tax provisions alone would add $3.8tr to the federal deficit over the next decade, a projection Musk cited in his criticism.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion,” Musk said.
Other controversial elements of the legislation include stricter work requirements for Medicaid and food assistance programs.
It also includes a rollback of green energy subsidies and a ban on federal funding for gender-affirming medical care for transgender adults.
The White House hailed the bill as a major win, with Trump calling it “arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country.”
Musk ‘Disappointed’ At Trump’s Tax Cut, Spending Bill is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
