Elon Musk speaks during a news conference with President Trump on May 30, 2025 inside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington.
Photo: Tom Brenner/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Elon Musk may have officially left government service, but he can’t seem to quit Washington.
The world’s richest person, fresh off a few drug-fueled months of sowing chaos throughout Washington as the spiritual leader of DOGE, is now attempting to kill Republicans’ massive spending package, known as the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” The House passed the bill in May, and it now faces major changes in the Senate.
Musk spent much of the day Wednesday posting criticisms of the bill on X, his social media platform. A sample:
Musk has a few elected GOP allies who agree with his stance that the bill is too expensive including hard-right senators like Mike Lee and Thomas Massie, the gadfly Kentucky representative who was one of the party’s two “no” vote in the House. But several Republicans expressed their annoyance that Musk, who they had largely supported as he took a chainsaw to various government agencies in a supposed effort to cut government spending, was now working against them.
Some Republicans also speculated that Musk’s real motive in opposing the bill was its abolition of electric-vehicle incentives, though he came out against those incentives months ago.
After making his opposition clear in late May, Musk ratcheted up his criticism of the bill on Tuesday. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” he wrote on X, which he owns. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
The person who matters most for the bill’s future is President Trump. So far, Trump has continued to rally support for the legislation while taking pains not to criticize Musk personally. And despite widespread predictions that a falling out was inevitable, the two have remained friendly, at least in public. On Musk’s last official day as a government employee, Musk was feted with a farewell event in the Oval Office where Trump praised him and his DOGE initiative and even presented him with a commemorative gold key which the president said he has only given to “very special people.” Though Musk had stated his intention to return to work at his companies, he and Trump spoke of his exit in less permanent terms with Musk himself vowing to remain a “friend and adviser” to the president.
The intense focus on politics is a return to Musk’s habits during his peak DOGE days earlier this year; lately, Musk has tended to focus more on his companies, which investors say are sorely in need of his attention. (Though Musk is aligned with Democrats in his opposition to the spending bill, it probably won’t do much to repair the brand damage he has inflicted on Tesla since joining up with Trump.)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to downplay Musk’s latest comments during a briefing Tuesday, suggesting that his position on the bill was old news. “Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn’t change the president’s opinion – this is one big beautiful bill and he is sticking to it,” she said.
