Elon Musk to spend ‘a lot less’ on future political contributions
Elon Musk said he plans to spend “a lot less” on political contributions after supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Scripps News
WASHINGTON – Billionaire Elon Musk said in an interview that he’s “disappointed” by the cost of Donald Trump’s much-ballyhooed sweeping tax bill passed by the House.
On May 22, the House passed a megabill by a vote of 215-214 that would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, boost defense and border security spending and implement new requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, among other things. Trump has dubbed it the “big, beautiful” bill.
But Musk said in an exclusive interview with CBS Sunday Morning that “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.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.
“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 in the interview.
Musk, who was tapped by Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency, has taken extensive efforts to cut government spending and slash the federal workforce. But he’s since taken a backseat from his role.
The bill heads to the Senate next, where lawmakers in the upper chamber are expected to make changes.
Contributing: Riley Beggin, USA TODAY