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Musk bashes Trump's 'abomination'

Jun 3, 2025 - 21:00

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The Big Story

Musk blasts Trump's big bill after leaving White House

Billionaire Elon Musk ramped up his criticism of the megabill of President Trump’s tax cut and spending priorities, calling the legislation a “disgusting abomination.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk posted Tuesday on his social platform X.

“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” Musk added.

The legislation, officially titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and boosts funding for border and defense priorities, while making cuts to spending on social safety net programs such as Medicaid and food aid.

It passed the House last month and is being considered by the Senate, which is expected to make tweaks to the legislation.

The comments come after top Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), pushed back on Musk telling “CBS News Sunday Morning” last week that the bill “undermined” the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he spearheaded.

“It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America [sic] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,” Musk said in a follow-up post.

Read more here.

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Tax Watch

Mike Johnson's Senate sales pitch for Trump's bill

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is on a sales mission for the “big, beautiful bill” full of President Trump’s legislative priorities, defending its contents amid a wave of criticism from his party about the depth of spending cuts, significance of Medicaid changes and the rollback of green-energy tax credits.

Along with attempting to temper Elon Musk, the Speaker has also gone on a cable news blitz, pushing back on concerns Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are voicing about the deficit impact of the bill, tearing into the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s math, and arguing that the benefits of the package outweigh its shortcomings.

And now, Speaker Johnson is looking to ease concerns of conservatives by promising to quickly stage a vote on a bill that would claw back billions of dollars in federal funding — reflecting some of the cuts DOGE has made — and signaling there may be more to come after the “one big, beautiful bill” gets to the president’s desk.

Read more here.

Tax Watch is a regular feature focused on the fight over tax reform and extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts this year. Email a tip

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