Elon Musk has publicly denounced a recently passed Republican spending bill from the House, asserting that it undermines his efforts to minimize excessive government expenditures.
In an interview set to air on June 1 during “CBS Sunday Morning,” the wealthiest person in the world and chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory board expressed concerns that the so-called “big, beautiful bill” will further harm the nation’s fiscal situation.
“I felt disappointed to see the massive spending bill, which actually increases the budget deficit instead of decreasing it, and it undermines the work we’re doing with the DOGE team,” Musk remarked in a clip shared on the social media platform X.
DOGE claims to have saved $170 billion in taxpayer money since its inception in January, by targeting governmental inefficient practices and redundancies, often through contentious measures.
For example, the initiative has significantly reduced staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development and other government departments. These DOGE-related actions have accounted for approximately 275,000 job cuts in the federal workforce, according to consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Conversely, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to inflate the federal budget deficit by $3.8 trillion over the next decade. Currently, the deficit is on pace to reach nearly $2 trillion by 2025, with the national debt climbing to $36.2 trillion.
“A bill can be described as big or beautiful, but I question if it can embody both,” said Musk in the shared clip.
Former President Trump and Republican lawmakers argue that the bill will cut spending in vital sectors and create sufficient economic growth to offset tax reductions. However, the legislation is anticipated to encounter significant opposition in the Senate.
Musk, who has recently decreased his involvement with DOGE, indicated a shift towards focusing on his various enterprises, which include X, Tesla, and SpaceX. His presence in the White House had been notable since Trump’s 2016 election.
Additionally, in an interview with The Washington Post published on Tuesday, Musk remarked that the federal bureaucratic system is “far worse than I realized” and stated that DOGE eventually became “the scapegoat for everything.”
