WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back on criticism from Elon Musk, who recently condemned former President Donald Trump’s proposed tax legislation as a “disgusting abomination.” Johnson said he was surprised by the remarks and asserted that Musk is “flat wrong” about the bill.
Musk made the comments in a June 3 post on X, where he criticized the House-passed legislation that advanced with narrow support and exclusively Republican votes. Despite spending over $250 million to support Trump’s 2024 campaign, Musk now appears to be distancing himself from the GOP on key policy issues — even threatening political consequences for lawmakers who backed the bill.
“It surprised me, frankly, and I don’t take it personally,” Johnson said during a press conference at the Capitol on June 4. “Policy disagreements are not personal. I think he’s flat wrong — and I’ve told him that, both privately and publicly.”
Johnson also noted that Musk had previously been supportive of the bill and described their last interaction as having ended on “a great note,” referencing Musk’s recent exit from his informal advisory role with the Trump campaign.
The dispute comes amid new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated the tax package would add approximately $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. The House bill proposes to extend the Trump-era tax cuts, increase defense spending, and provide funding for Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Now under Senate consideration, the bill faces resistance even from within the Republican Party. Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have expressed concerns over the legislation’s fiscal impact.
“I agree with Elon,” Paul wrote in a June 3 post. “We’ve both seen how much government waste exists, and adding another $5 trillion in debt is a serious mistake. We can and must do better.” Republican leaders, including Trump, have set a target date of July 4 to pass the bill through both chambers of Congress and send it to the president’s desk.