"Utterly Insane": Elon Musk Criticises Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Again
Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday issued a blistering critique of the Senate's latest draft of Donald Trump's sweeping tax-and-spending bill, calling the legislation "utterly insane and destructive" right as the chamber prepared to open debate on the nearly 1,000-page proposal.
"The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country," Musk posted, warning Republican leaders against pushing forward with the legislation. "Utterly insane and destructive," he added. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future."
The remarks revived tensions between the Tesla CEO and Trump's administration, particularly following Musk's recent departure as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). His outspoken opposition adds yet another challenge for Republican Senate leaders scrambling to meet Trump's July 4 deadline for final passage.
Earlier this month, Musk also denounced the House version of the bill, describing it as a "disgusting abomination."
"This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it," Musk wrote at the time.
His comments triggered a highly public rift with Trump, although Musk has more recently made moves to restore communication with the president. On Saturday, he doubled down on his criticism, posting a series of comments that questioned the bill's energy policy and overall economic implications.
In one post, Musk amplified remarks from Princeton energy systems engineer Jesse Jenkins, who sharply criticised the legislation's energy provisions.
"The energy provisions in the Republicans' One Big Horrible Bill are truly so bad! Who wants this? The country's automakers don't want it. Electric utilities don't want it. Data center developers don't want it. Manufacturers in energy intensive industries don't want it," Jenkins wrote.
Musk responded, "Good question. Who?"
He added, "this bill raises the debt ceiling by $5 TRILLION, the biggest increase in history, putting America in the fast lane to debt slavery."
The 940-page bill combines deep cuts to social programmes with major tax breaks and ramped-up spending on defence and immigration enforcement. It slashes Medicaid and food stamp funding.
A key highlight is Trump's $350 billion border and security plan, which includes $46 billion for expanding the border wall, $45 billion for 100,000 migrant detention beds, and hiring 10,000 new ICE officers with $10,000 signing bonuses.
The bill underpins Trump's pledge to launch the largest mass deportation effort in US history, targeting the removal of nearly one million people each year.
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