Elon Musk Calls Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful’ Spending Bill a ‘Disgusting Abomination’

by Rod Williams, June 3, 2025- I keep waiting for Trump world to splinter. Several cracks are starting to appear. It almost seemed inevitable that fissures would develop. After all, many of those in Trump world were long-time conservatives before they jumped on the Trump bandwagon. Many still believe in things like free trade, an originalist approach to the constitution, due process, smaller government, a strong national defense, America's leadership role in the world, and the rule of law. 

When Trump does things like attack the Federalist Society and disavow the advice that led to an originalist majority on the Supreme Court, some conservatives must be disappointed. When Trump abandons 75 years of conservative orthodoxy supporting freer trade among nations, surely some are uncomfortable. Seemingly siding with Russia in its aggression toward Ukraine and appearing ready to abandon NATO has got to give long-standing defense hawks pause. Now, it seems like the bromance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump may be on rocky ground. Will this give a backbone to some budget hawks? 

Musk's taking a chain saw approach to government was an absolute failure. Many of his cuts were reinstated by the courts. He wanted to treat government like a private business that he owns and that just doesn't work. The constitution says the Congress has the power of the purse. A president cannot just refuse to spend money appropriated by Congress and the president cannot abolish departments created by Congress.

I favor cutting the size of the federal government, but the Musk approach was not the way to go about it. Considerable savings were realized during the Reagan years with the Grace Commission and under President Clinton, with Newt Gingrich as speaker of the house, major welfare reform and savings were realized. These efforts were not as dramatic as the Musk approach, but they led to real government savings. These two efforts were careful thoughtful approaches and did not happen within mere weeks. During these government reforms, no one went home on a Friday, got an email over the weekend telling them their services were no longer needed and were locked out of their office on Monday. 

Not only was the Musk approach cruel and chaotic, on several occasions people who had been rapidly fired had to be reinstated when it was discovered that their jobs were crucial to things like nuclear safety. Elon Musk's DOGE has saved little money. By his own accounting, DOGE only saved about a quarter of what Musk thought it would save and the Courts or the next Congress may whittle that down. In any event, Musk tired, a foolish approach for sure, but he thought he could cut government. Now Congress is on the verge of passing a bill that increases government spending and increases the deficit. Trump is twisting arms to get the Big Beautiful Bill passed; Elong Musk has called the bill a "disgusting abomination." Could Musk's outspoken criticism of the bill give budget hawks a backbone?

I do not see how this difference of opinion between Musk and Trump can be papered over. I suspect, most Trumpinistas will still blindly follow Trump no matter where he leads them. However, enough little cracks and the dam may break. 

For more on this, see the following:

 Elon Musk Calls Trump's 'Big, Beautiful' Spending Bill a 'Disgusting Abomination'

By Brittany Bernstein, National Review, June 3, 2025- ... “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” he said in a post on X.

“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” he added.

Musk’s comments on Tuesday represent an even harsher reaction to the bill than his previous criticisms. Last month, he said he was “disappointed” by the House passage of the bill because it undermines the work he has done as the head of DOGE.

“The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “It doesn’t change the president’s opinion.” ... 

While the bill aims to cut $1.5 trillion in government spending, it also increases the debt limit by $4 trillion. The U.S. government is more than $36 trillion in debt.

... some lawmakers agreed with Musk’s criticism on Tuesday.

“The Senate must make this bill better,” Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah) replied to Musk’s post.

“He’s right,” Representative Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) said of Musk. Massie was one of two Republicans to oppose the bill in the House.

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