"Will Lose Their Primary": Musk's Big Threat To Lawmakers Backing Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
As the US Senate inches closer to a vote on the White House's massive tax and immigration agenda, tech billionaire Elon Musk has renewed his criticism of President Donald Trump's flagship spending bill-- "One Big Beautiful Bill"-- and threatened to unseat the lawmakers who support the unpopular package, which is expected to slash social welfare programs and add an eye-watering $3 trillion to the national debt.
Lawmakers in the US Senate were bogged down in a marathon session of amendment votes on Monday as Republicans sought to pass the "big, beautiful bill", which would extend Trump's tax cuts passed in 2017.
"Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame," Musk, who was Trump's presidential advisor till May, said in a post on X.
"And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," he added.
Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!
And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2025
New Party Threat
Musk also warned that he would launch a new party -- the American Party-- an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty, if lawmakers pass Trump's spending bill in the Senate.
"If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE," he wrote on X.
Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill'
President Trump wants the "One Big Beautiful Bill" to extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at $4.5 trillion, boost military spending and fund his plans for unprecedented mass deportations and border security.
But senators eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over savings that would strip around $1 trillion in subsidised health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3.3 trillion to the nation's already yawning budget deficits over a decade.
The Republicans are aiming to have the package in the Oval Office by the time Independence Day festivities begin on Friday. The process had ground to a glacial pace by early evening, but, after members considered dozens of amendments as part of the so-called "vote-a-rama" required before final passage, they managed to complete only 14 votes in the first seven hours.
But, given Trump's iron grip on the party, he is expected to get what he wants in the Senate, where Republicans hold a razor-tight majority. All Democrats in that chamber are expected to vote "nay."
The passing of the bill will be a huge win for the Republican leader, who has been criticised for imposing many of his priorities through executive orders that sidestep the scrutiny of Congress. But approval by the Senate is only half the battle, as the 940-page text will have to pass a separate vote in the House of Representatives, where several rebels in the slim Republican majority are threatening to oppose it.
Musk-Trump Feud Over Bill
The former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head, Musk, took to X on Saturday, issuing a blistering critique of the Senate's latest draft of tax-and-spending bill, calling the legislation "utterly insane and destructive" right as the chamber prepared to open debate on the nearly 1,000-page proposal.
"The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive," Musk wrote in the post.
The post was a continuation of Musk's opposition to the Grand Old Party's legislation, which he had previously described as a "disgusting abomination" filled with wasteful spending.
Musk's criticism of the bill triggered an online feud between him and Trump, with both men bashing one another on social media accounts. The disagreement escalated when Musk posted about an alleged connection between Donald Trump and the Epstein files -- a post he later deleted.
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