Washington — Elon Musk ramped up his criticism of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on Tuesday, calling it “a disgusting abomination” as Congress rushes to send the legislation to the president by July 4.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote in a post on X, adding that the sweeping policy bill aimed at advancing Mr. Trump’s domestic priorities is “outrageous” and “pork-filled.”
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,” he said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to the criticism during the daily press briefing, telling reporters that Mr. Trump “already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn’t change the president’s opinion.”
Musk told “CBS Sunday Morning” in a recent interview that he was “disappointed” by the price tag of the measure, which passed the House before Memorial Day after Mr. Trump stepped up pressure on the Republican holdouts to fall in line. Musk said the package increases the deficit and undermines the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“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. My personal opinion.”
Some Republican senators were quick to chime in Tuesday and back Musk’s sentiment. The package is now in the hands of the Senate and is expected to undergo changes before heading back to the House.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who opposes the House-passed legislation over the debt ceiling increase, said, “We can and must do better.” Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who also wants a number of changes to the bill, told reporters he shared Musk’s concerns.
“The Senate must make this bill better,” added Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said he has a “difference of opinion” with Musk and the billionaire is “entitled to his opinion.”
“My hope is that as he has an opportunity to further assess what this bill actually does that he’ll come to a different conclusion,” Thune said.
Last Wednesday, Musk announced his departure as a “special government employee,” a designation that allowed him to work for the administration under different ethics rules than federal employees and limited his work to 130 days.
Musk vowed to slash $1 trillion from the federal budget but left the Trump administration falling far short of that goal. Nonetheless, DOGE’s cuts to the government workforce, dismantling of agencies and cancelation in billions of grants and contracts sent shock waves through Washington that reverberated across the country and abroad.
A senior administration official told CBS News last week that the billionaire entrepreneur “left on good terms and is still friends with the president.”
“This isn’t a separation, but just a return to the private sector for Musk,” the official said, adding that Musk will continue to advise the president.
contributed to this report.
