Musk Calls BBB a ‘Disgusting Abomination’

WSJ (“Elon Musk Calls Trump Megabill a ‘Disgusting Abomination’“):

Former White House cost-cutting czar Elon Musk called President Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and spending package a “disgusting abomination,” stepping up his criticism just as the Senate is trying to quickly pass the measure and get it signed into law by July 4.

Musk’s comments are his latest sharp words about the package, which includes tax cuts as well as reductions to spending on Medicaid and food assistance. Last month, he gave new fuel to GOP critics of the Republicans’ multitrillion-dollar agenda, saying that the current measure failed to reduce the federal deficit.

“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” said Musk, in comments on his X social-media platform. Musk, who left the administration last week, called the package a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.” He issued a warning on the midterm elections: “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.”

The bill narrowly passed the House last month by one vote. It is now in the hands of the Senate, where some fiscal hawks, including Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida, have demanded deeper cuts.

The Senate is aiming to make changes to the bill and then send it back to the House. Backers can afford to lose no more than a handful of GOP votes in either chamber, with all Democrats expected to be opposed. Still, the White House and GOP leaders said that Musk’s statements didn’t shake their confidence in passing the measure.

Trump “already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday when asked about Musk’s social-media post. “It doesn’t change the president’s opinion.”

The current proposal would extend expiring tax cuts for all income groups and create new tax cuts on top of that, including versions of Trump’s campaign-trail promises to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits. The bill would provide new money for border security, national defense and support for farmers. To cover some—but not all—of those costs, the bill would reduce spending on green energy tax credits, Medicaid and food assistance.

Top Republican defenders of the measure argue that the tax cuts will fuel increased economic growth to close the fiscal gap—counter to assessments by congressional scorekeepers. In all, the bill is expected to increase budget deficits by $2.7 trillion through 2034, compared with doing nothing, though a final official estimate wasn’t available.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) kept his focus on the bigger picture, saying that Republicans had campaigned on extending and expanding Trump’s tax cuts and that he intended to deliver, aiming to put the bill on the floor the week before July 4. Asked if he thought Musk’s pressure would tank the bill, Thune said he hoped Musk would further assess the bill and “come to a different conclusion.”

It may well be that Musk genuinely believed that the DOGE effort was about finding waste and getting a bloated budget down to size. The Project 2025 types, though, simply wanted to break the government and punish their enemies. I’m not sure President Trump cares much one way or the other.