The entrepreneur stated the tax law “hinders” his agency’s cost-cutting strategies.
Elon Musk has publicly disapproved of President Trump’s recently approved tax and spending package, asserting that it impedes efforts to lower the federal deficit.
Last week, the House of Representatives gave the green light to Trump’s key tax legislation, designed to prevent a tax increase at the end of the year, while simultaneously increasing the national debt of $36 trillion. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate.
Musk, who leads Tesla, SpaceX, and owns X, recently stepped down from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an organization established by Trump during his second term to enforce widespread federal spending reductions, stating his intention to return to his business interests.
The billionaire, who was frequently seen during the early stages of Trump’s second term, voiced a rare critique in a CBS interview.
“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 commented in a preview clip from the interview, ahead of its full broadcast on Sunday.
The tech leader criticized the “Big Beautiful Bill” for its potential to increase the national debt, thereby working against the goals of DOGE, which he previously helped manage.
“A bill can be big, or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk stated, delivering his strongest criticism of Trump’s policies to date.
The bill, strongly supported by the president, narrowly passed in the House. It seeks to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent and introduce further tax cuts, while also boosting expenditure on areas like defense and border security.
Critics contend that the bill primarily benefits the wealthy and could potentially add trillions to the national debt over the next ten years.
Musk, who has played a significant role in DOGE’s reported $175 billion in savings through agency closures and personnel reductions, is worried that the bill’s provisions could nullify these accomplishments.
The bill is now being reviewed by the Senate, where it is facing resistance from some Republicans who are concerned about its effect on the federal deficit and proposed cuts to vital federal health insurance programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.
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