Elon Musk has escalated his MAGA civil war—for a third time—with a promise to “fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.”
Mere weeks ago, many would have interpreted Musk’s Tuesday rebuke to be about Democratic lawmakers. However, he made it explicit earlier in the day that his disgust lies with House Republicans who voted for President Donald Trump’s massive spending bill.
Musk, 53, said Republicans who voted in favor of the bill, which is the vast majority, should be ousted from Congress next fall in the midterm elections. He did not call out any lawmakers by name, but House Speaker Mike Johnson took immediate offense.
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“My friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one Big Beautiful Bill,” Johnson told reporters.
The Republican leader’s reaction came shortly after Musk sent a pair of blistering posts, in which he called Trump’s beloved spending bill “outrageous,” “pork-filled,” and a “disgusting abomination” that will “increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,” Musk added. “You know it.”
Removing any doubts about who his “fire” threat was intended for, Musk’s post on X was a quote-tweet of another statement that criticized Republicans.
That post read, “OK LET ME JUST GET THIS STRAIGHT. THE GOP ARE OUT THERE: 1) SPENDING MILLIONS ON LUXURY HOTELS IN UKRAINE 2) NOT VOTING ON ANY DOGE CUTS 3) SPENDING 60% OF THEIR TIME ON VACATION 4) NOT CODIFYING EXECUTIVE ORDERS. IS THIS THE ‘MAJOR REFORM’ THE AMERICAN PEOPLE VOTED FOR?”
Multiple reports allege that Musk fell out of favor with the White House, culminating in his official departure from the Department of Government Efficiency last week. His tumultuous reign at DOGE saw it underperform a promise to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. DOGE’s official savings figure, which has been criticized as likely being higher than the actual amount, was $180 billion as of Tuesday.
Even Trump was reportedly baffled by DOGE’s inefficiency.
“Was it all bulls--t?” Trump once asked advisers about Musk’s cost-cutting in DOGE, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump has, at least so far, kept a relatively straight face regarding Musk, who shelled out more than $250 million to help him win re-election last year. He sat next to him in the Oval Office last week for a bizarre press conference, where Musk’s mysterious black eye made an appearance, and the president gifted him with a ceremonial, oversized key.
Asked about Musk’s post that attacked the mega bill, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing that the president “already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill.”
“It doesn’t change the president’s opinion,” she added. “This is one big beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.”
Musk is not the only conservative voicing displeasure with the bill. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky who voted against the bill, reshared Musk’s post that claimed it would add trillions to the deficit and said, “He’s right.”
Republican Senator Rand Paul also sided with the world’s richest man.
“I agree with Elon,” he said. “We have both seen the massive waste in government spending, and we know another $5 trillion in debt is a huge mistake.”
The Daily Beast reached out to Musk for comment.
