Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has aimed at former President Donald Trump’s landmark spending bill, warning it could significantly worsen the U.S. deficit while gutting support for vulnerable Americans.
The legislation, dubbed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” passed the House of Representatives this week and now heads to the Senate. It represents Trump’s flagship domestic initiative for a potential second term and aims to extend his 2017 tax cuts by another decade.
Supporters argue the bill would usher in a new “Golden Age” by shrinking the size of government. But critics, including Musk, say it would devastate the social safety net while triggering a dramatic rise in the national debt.
“I 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,” Musk told CBS News in an interview aired Tuesday evening.
Musk had been appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a controversial agency tasked with slashing public sector spending. His comments put him squarely at odds with Trump’s new fiscal vision.
Independent analysts estimate the bill could increase the national deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, despite Trump’s promise of financial responsibility.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful,” Musk said. “But I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.” The full interview will air Sunday.
In a separate conversation with the Washington Post, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO reflected on his time leading DOGE, during which tens of thousands of federal workers lost their jobs, often with little or no warning.
“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realised,” Musk said. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC, to say the least.”
Musk announced in late April that he would step back from his role in the government to resume day-to-day leadership of his private companies.
While he acknowledged that DOGE had achieved some of its goals — including large-scale layoffs and the dismantling of several federal departments — he admitted the effort fell short of his original ambitions.
He now plans to shift focus within DOGE, telling the Post that he will continue working with the agency, but will prioritise modernising federal IT systems rather than pursuing further staffing cuts.
