Musk says he’s ‘disappointed’ that Trump tax Bill raises deficit
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Mr Elon Musk says the Bill undercuts his efforts to slash government spending.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Mr Elon Musk expressed dissatisfaction with US President Donald Trump’s giant tax Bill, which the House of Representatives narrowly passed last week, saying it undercut his efforts to slash government spending.
Mr Musk, who has announced he is stepping back from his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) – a body that quickly became an exponent of the second Trump administration’s vision – was speaking to CBS News in an interview. He said he was “disappointed to see the massive spending Bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing”.
The network released an excerpt of the interview on May 27. It will be broadcast on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend.
The legislation, which Mr Trump calls his “big, beautiful Bill” and includes an array of tax cuts, now goes to the Senate. Mr Musk, the billionaire chief executive officer of Tesla and SpaceX, seemed to echo the concerns of some Republicans in the House and Senate who believe the legislation costs too much and demand more spending reductions.
Said Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, when asked when his chamber could complete its work: “We are so far away from an acceptable Bill, it’s hard to say.”
Other Republicans, however, not only oppose further cuts, but also object to provisions already in the House version, such as restricting Medicaid benefits and a swift elimination of clean-energy tax incentives.
“I think a Bill can be big or it can be beautiful,” Mr Musk said in the CBS interview, “but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.” BLOOMBERG
