Musk Attacks Trump's Tax Plan Again, Says "Kill the Bill"

Dow Jones
05 Jun

Elon Musk, who left his job as a special government employee just days ago, is stepping up his attacks on the massive tax and spending bill, making it very clear he’s not on board with it.

Musk urged his followers on X to “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.”

He wrote in a separate post that “A new spending bill should be drafted that doesn’t massively grow the deficit and increase the debt ceiling by 5 TRILLION DOLLARS.”

His comments came hours after a federal agency charged with estimating the cost of bills passed in the House and Senate released its final estimate for how much the tax and spending bill currently working its way through Congress would affect the federal deficit.

The Congressional Budget Office said that the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit through 2034. That is the overall effect on the deficit when you subtract outlays from revenue. The estimate is based on the final version of the bill passed by the House of Representatives, which is likely to be revised substantially by the Senate before President Donald Trump signs it into law.

The administration disputed the agency’s findings.

“The bill REDUCES deficits by $1.4 trillion over ten years when you adjust for CBO’s one big gimmick—not using a realistic current policy baseline,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought wrote on X.

The CBO estimate comes at a critical juncture for the bill. Deficit hawks have expressed concern over the increased spending, and Musk on Tuesday called the bill a “disgusting abomination.” A few Republican senators have also criticized its spending, including Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Utah’s Mike Lee.

As part of its estimate, the CBO says that the net effect of extending the 2017 tax cuts, plus new credits for seniors, no tax on tips, and other tax cuts in the bill will be around $3.76 trillion. Spending, meanwhile, would be cut by $1.25 trillion.

The bill would also increase the number of people without health insurance by 10.9 million in 2034, according to the CBO. That change will be driven by new work-related requirements for Medicaid participants as well as changes to health insurance marketplaces.

The estimate doesn’t include the potential impact of tariff revenue. The agency said Wednesday in a separate letter to senators that levies implemented through May 13 would reduce total deficits by $2.8 trillion to $3 trillion through 2035 when factoring in lower costs for interest on federal debt. The lower end of that spectrum takes into account the agency’s assumption that tariffs will reduce the size of the U.S. economy overall.

The White House has previously criticized the agency as being partisan and for making inaccurate estimates. The administration has argued that economic growth from the bill in the coming years will lower the deficit.

“It’s going to be jet fuel for the U.S. economy,” House speaker Mike Johnson said at a press conference Wednesday.

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