Tesla CEO Elon Musk is voicing displeasure with House Republicans over their recently passed reconciliation plan.
"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, referring to his Department of Government Efficiency.
Last week, House Republicans approved a massive tax-and-spending package that includes dramatic cuts to Medicaid, the federal program that provides health care to millions of low-income Americans. The plan, passed without any Democratic support, calls for imposing work requirements on Medicaid recipients and slashes grants to states that had expanded the pool of eligible participants.
But despite taking an ax to social spending, the Republican reconciliation plan would also dramatically increase the federal deficit. An analysis from the University of Pennsylvania found that the bill would increase the federal deficit by at least $2.8 trillion over the next decade. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the finally number could even be as high as $3.8 trillion.
That is largely due to the tax cuts included in the bill, which disproportionately benefit higher-income households. The process of collecting tax revenue is also likely to be adversely affected by layoffs at the IRS imposed by Musk and his DOGE operatives.
Speaking to CBS, Musk, who has claimed he is reducing his involvement in GOP politics to focus on his duties at Tesla, blamed Republicans for failing to further slash federal spending — and, implicitly, President Donald Trump, who has endorsed the bill.
"I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both," Musk said. "My personal opinion."
