House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was let down by Elon Musk’s bombshell rebuke of the Trump administration’s signature legislation as lawmakers swiftly took sides on the debate.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Johnson launched into a defense of President Donald Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” after the recently departed DOGE chief branded it a “disgusting abomination” that would “massively increase” the budget deficit.
“Let me say this: It’s very disappointing,” Johnson said of Musk’s comments. “I’ve come to consider Elon a good friend. He’s obviously a very intelligent person, and he’s done a lot of great work… But with all due respect, my friend Elon is terribly wrong.”
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Johnson maintained that the mega bill delivers on Trump’s campaign promise of putting America first and saves the government more than $1.6 trillion—despite analyses from nonpartisan organizations like the Congressional Budget Office and the Penn-Wharton Budget Model estimating that the measure would cause the deficit to soar by about $4 trillion.
The House Speaker said he and Musk spoke at length over the phone on Monday to discuss the bill, which the tech mogul blasted in an earlier interview with CBS News.
“I extolled all the virtues of the bill, and he seemed to understand that,” Johnson said. “We had a very friendly conversation about it.”
Musk has become increasingly vocal about his opposition to the bill since leaving the Trump administration. He told CBS last week that the measure “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” and wrote in X posts on Tuesday that the “massive, outrageous, pork-filled” legislation would “burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” he said. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
House Republicans narrowly passed the bill last month in a 215 to 214 vote, with all Democrats uniting against what they described as a giveaway to billionaires at the expense of vulnerable American families.
Musk’s comments divided GOP lawmakers and appeared to unite Democrats.
Four Republican senators were exasperated when they spoke to Politico about Musk’s latest jab.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said Musk was “entitled to his opinion,” while North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said: “I like Elon Musk, but he’s one man.”
Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said lawmakers would continue to work on the measure.
“We need spending reductions, no doubt,” Schmitt said.
“I think the Senate should make the bill substantially better, and I hope and believe we’ll do that,” Cruz added.
Several other Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in agreeing with Musk’s take.
“I agree with Elon,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said on X. “We have both seen the massive waste in government spending and we know another $5 trillion in debt is a huge mistake. We can and must do better.”
Utah Sen. Mike Lee wrote in a reply to Musk’s post that “the Senate must make this bill better.”
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna threatened to withhold votes if the bill fails to codify the sweeping cuts made by DOGE.
“NO CODIFY VOTES? Then guess what: NO VOTES,” she said. “Half the reason GOP took the majority is because of Trump and Elon and now they are too scared to codify!”
Several Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, echoed Musk’s scathing criticism of the bill.
“If even Elon Musk, who’s been part of the whole process and is Trump’s buddy, says the bill is bad, you can imagine how bad this bill is,” Schumer told reporters. “Musk said people shouldn’t vote for the bill. Let’s hope the Republicans follow him, not Trump.”
“Breaking news: Elon Musk and I agree with each other,” Jeffries said in a press conference. “The GOP tax scam is a disgusting abomination.”
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders similarly agreed with Musk.
“Musk is right,” he said on X. “Let’s defeat this disgusting abomination.”
