GOP lawmakers rebuke Elon Musk's primary threats, say Trump's legislation 'something we've got to do'

Fox News

a day ago

As lawmakers march toward a vote on President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," House Republicans aren't too worried about primary threats from tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk, who once served as the head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been highly critical of the president's legislative agenda. He had remained quiet about the bill until earlier this week when Senate Republicans were making strides to pass it.
"We don't take threats lightly up here," Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital. "And, you know, Elon, we appreciate all the work he did with DOGE — and he did some fine work, some great work — but at the same time, this is something we've got to do."
Musk again returned to bemoan Republicans for supporting the legislative behemoth for its staggering $3.3 trillion price tag and the impact it would have on the nation's already massive, $37 trillion debt. He went so far as to threaten to back primary challengers against any Republican that voted for the bill.
It wouldn't be the first time that Musk has been involved — he dumped millions into Trump's campaign last year.
Now, House Republicans are gearing up to vote after hours of delays, negotiations and a near record-breaking amount of open floor time in the lower chamber. Additionally, many don't care about Musk's threats.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mi., told Fox News Digital that he was focused on doing the best "we could do, which is, frankly, better than what Elon Musk did."
"I don't worry about Elon Musk," he said. "I do know that DOGE found some good things that we needed to remedy in this government. But the $2 trillion that Elon said he was going to find, he didn't."
Musk took particular issue with the Senate's changes to the bill, too, and slammed it for adding trillions to the deficit.
Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C., noted that the bill cuts north of $1.5 trillion in an effort to help offset the cost of extending or making permanent Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
"I appreciate Mr. Musk's motivation," he told Fox News Digital. "I appreciate his focus on debt reduction, and I hope he'll take a step back and realize that we're still all on the same team here."
While the Senate's changes, particularly to Medicaid and a reduction in the rollback of green energy subsidies from former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, among other cost-driving issues, gave fiscal hawks in the House heartburn, House Republican leadership is confident that the bill will pass.