Latest news with #debtincrease
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk just made his starkest political threat since the election
After declaring he was stepping away from the political spotlight, Elon Musk got right back in it. As the Senate debated President Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' on Monday before a final vote, Musk issued a stark warning via his social media platform X. '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,' he wrote. A few hours later he went further, declaring on X that if the '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. In a late-night post on social media, Trump hit back against Musk and threatened to direct the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) against the tech billionaire. 'Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social. For weeks, Musk has railed against Trump's policy bill, leading to a very public and ugly fight with Trump earlier this month. In a flurry of X posts several weeks ago, Musk had proposed starting a new political party. That proposal resurfaced on Monday, when Musk said: 'It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.' Musk's resolution to support candidates who plan to launch primary campaigns against members of Congress is one of Musk's most concrete political threats since leaving his post as a White House adviser. Musk spent more than $275 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2024 election. In late May he said in an interview he was planning to cut back on political spending, saying he has 'done enough.' According to Federal Election Commission filings, Musk's political action committee, America PAC, last gave money in March to support two Republican candidates running in special elections in Florida – Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis. Musk has long supported closed borders, deportations and stopping illegal immigration, in line with the Trump administration. But the domestic policy bill has appeared to trigger a rift between the Tesla CEO and the White House. Musk has argued that the Republican policy bill will increase the debt, calling it 'debt slavery.' The Senate bill would add nearly $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released Sunday. The Senate legislation costs more than the House-approved bill, which would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. The Senate package contains deeper tax cuts, fewer spending cuts and provisions that would raise revenue. The White House has argued the bill 'slashes deficits' and the debt, while 'unleashing economic growth.' The Trump administration and certain Senate Republicans are opting not to include the cost of extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts in their calculations of the bill's impact on the federal deficit. Though Musk has said the loss of electric vehicle (EV) and solar energy subsidies and credits in the bill are not why he opposes the legislation, he has complained the bill 'gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.' In his post on Truth Social, Trump defended his position against EV mandates, writing: 'Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.' CNN's Tami Luhby contributed reporting.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Vows to Campaign Against Republicans Who Back Debt-Raising Megabill
Elon Musk looks on during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025. Credit - Andrew Harnik—Getty Images President Donald Trump has made clear that any Republican member of Congress who opposes his sprawling tax-and-spending package dubbed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' will face his wrath. He launched a campaign to primary Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and suggested he would do the same against Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, before Tillis announced that he wouldn't seek reelection. Now, however, another powerful political kingmaker has vowed to challenge any Republican who supports the bill. '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!' tech billionaire and former close ally of Trump Elon Musk posted on X. 'And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.' Musk spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump in 2024 but said in May that he had 'done enough' and was going to do 'a lot less in the future.' He added at the time, however, 'if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it.' Musk posted his warning, among many posts on the topic, on Monday night as Senators continued to vote on a series of amendments to the megabill, which estimates say will add trillions to the national deficit and lead to cuts to Medicaid. Reigniting a once-regretted feud with the President and Republicans that exploded after Musk left a temporary government role in the Administration in May, Musk reiterated a prior idea he'd floated of starting a new political party. 'It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!' he posted on X. 'Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.' In another post, he said that if the bill actually passes, the 'America Party will be formed the next day' to provide 'an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.' When former Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party in 2019 and opted not to run for reelection in 2020 amid criticisms of Trump, asked Musk to support his friend and fellow libertarian-minded conservative Massie, whom Trump has set his sights on ousting from the House, Musk responded 'I will.' 'The establishment is working to primary him because he's a genuine fiscal conservative and opposes the Big, Bloated Scam,' Amash said of Massie. Trump took to his own Truth Social platform Monday night to lash out at Musk, suggesting that the wealthiest man in the world, who is also the CEO of electric-car company Tesla and space-technology company SpaceX, is self-interested. 'Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate,' Trump posted, referring to policies that incentivize—though don't require—the manufacture and purchase of electric vehicles. 'It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one. Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE,' Trump added. Musk's companies are estimated to receive about $38 billion in government contracts and subsidies. 'Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?' Trump added, referencing the Department of Government Efficiency that Musk spearheaded. 'BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!' Musk previously dismissed Trump when the President made a similar claim about the former White House adviser's priorities. 'Whatever. Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!),' he posted on X in early June. Over the weekend, however, Musk posted that 'A massive strategic error is being made right now to damage solar/battery that will leave America extremely vulnerable in the future.' The bill threatens to end billions of dollars in green-energy tax credits, which some say could decimate the country's wind and solar industries. Musk reposted on Monday a post by Tillis, the Republican Senator who announced on Sunday that he planned to retire at the end of his term and would be free from expected deference to party leaders, which backed Musk. 'Folks, @ElonMusk is 100% right, and he understands this issue better than anyone,' Tillis posted. 'We should take his warnings seriously. We can't let Communist China become the long-term winner.' Still, Musk insisted that his main focus is the national deficit. 'All I'm asking is that we don't bankrupt America,' he posted as Senators continued to vote on amendments early Tuesday. The White House has maintained that the bill 'actually reduces the debt burden on future generations,' claiming that it 'will unleash robust, real economic growth and restore fiscal sanity in America.' But a new estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released on Sunday showed that the Senate version of the bill would add nearly $3.3 trillion to the deficit over a decade. Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘If it's the last thing I do': Elon Musk promises to fund campaigns against Republicans who vote for Trump's ‘Big Beautiful' bill
Elon Musk promised to bankroll primary challenges against Republican lawmakers who vote to pass legislation representing a sizable portion of Donald Trump's political agenda on Monday as the Senate debated its final passage. The Tesla CEO and former DOGE overlord blew up at Trump and the Republican Congress over the bill earlier this year. Musk, along with Republicans like Rand Paul in the Senate, believe that the bill's spending cuts are insufficient to fund its other provisions and point to projections of trillions added to the national debt over the next decade as reason it should be opposed. But despite failing to meet the goals of deficit hawks to be deficit-neutral or even cut the national debt, Donald Trump and Republican leadership are pressing forward with the legislation. The bill is set to extend the 2017 GOP tax cuts as well as fund a massive surge of mass deportation measures for the federal government, including the hiring of 10,000 new ICE agents. To fund the plan, the GOP plans to impose work requirements and other cuts on Medicaid and food stamp (SNAP) programs. On Monday, Musk vowed to fund Republican primary challengers against any senator or House member who voted for the legislation. '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,' he wrote on Twitter. Musk's opposition is far from new. He publicly came out against the legislation only days after his heralded departure from the Trump administration, which coincided with the end of the allowance of his special government employee designation. But the DOGE chief's time in government was fraught with controversy that clearly rubbed Musk the wrong way. His meddling in the Wisconsin supreme court race earlier this year was villainized by Democrats, who won the election as a result, and Musk himself was the subject of damaging and embarrassing profiles examining his alleged use of ketamine and the growing horde of children he has fathered with long list of women. Upon his departure, Musk accused the Republican-controlled Congress of undermining the Trump legislative agenda with a bloated, pork-filled budget — though despite his protestations, the real bulk of the deficit spending in the bill is related to the expansion of tax cuts. An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) over the weekend put the debt increase figure related to the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act' at $3.3trn. Musk also went a different route with his criticism, engaging in a series of deeply personal attacks against the president — who'd lightly bashed him over degradation of the 'big, beautiful bill'. In a now-deleted message, Musk wrote on Twitter that Trump was supposedly mentioned within the 'Epstein Files', the investigation into convicted sex trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and blamed that factor for the refusal of the federal government to publish materials related to the Epstein investigation in full. Those allegations have been echoed by some Democratic members of Congress, including Rep. Dan Goldman. In May, Goldman wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi 'to express my grave concern about what appears to be a concerted effort by you to delay and even prevent the release of the Jeffrey Epstein Files in their entirety – potentially at the direction of the sitting President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.' He questioned in his letter whether the delay was related to an effort by the president to 'Hide[his] Extensive Relationship with Epstein'. Musk's criticism of Trump personally cooled after aides for the two men intervened and sought to calm tensions. But his efforts to kill the legislation continued through June. In one tweet earlier this month, he offhandedly suggested the formation of a new political party 'that actually cares about the people.' Having forced his way into the president's inner circle over the final weeks of the 2024 election and the presidential transition period over the winter, Musk was once an ever-present figure alongside Trump at events and even in the White House, where his young son accompanied him at times. The vicious feud between him and the president ended that relationship, however, and while the two have held off from open attacks it's clear that Musk is no longer welcome at the White House or with Trump generally. As a result, Musk lost a vast amount of political capital, and while he could concievably fund a number of primary challenges with his vast wealth, the world's richest man lacks one thing Trump still commands: a level of obediance and fear within the Republican caucuses in the House and Senate that manifests as ardent public loyalty. A massive piece of legislation, the 'big, beautiful bill' includes an extension of the 2017 Republican tax cuts as well as a surge in funding for Trump's mass deportation efforts. The legislation would fund the hiring of nearly 20,000 new immigration agents, including 10,000 new ICE personnel alone. Republicans have only 53 seats in the Senate, which is not enough to overcome a filibuster by the Democrats. As a result, they plan to use a process called budget reconciliation to pass the measure in a marathon 'vote-a-rama' session that began Monday morning and is expected to conclude late into the evening. Two Republican senators have announced plans to oppose the bill, and two more are publicly on the fence about final passage even as the vote approaches.
Bloomberg
30-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Musk Lashes Out at Tax Bill Proponents, Threatens to Unseat Lawmakers
Elon Musk once again threatened to ramp up his political spending, this time targeting nearly every sitting Republican in Congress who has signaled support for President Donald Trump's multi-trillion dollar tax bill. '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 posted on his social media platform X. 'And they will lose their primary next year if it's the last thing I do on this Earth.'
The Independent
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
‘If it's the last thing I do': Elon Musk vows to primary every Republican who votes for Trump's ‘Big Beautiful' bill
Elon Musk promised to bankroll primary challenges against Republican lawmakers who vote to pass legislation representing a sizable portion of Donald Trump's political agenda on Monday as the Senate debated its final passage. The Tesla CEO and former DOGE overlord blew up at Trump and the Republican Congress over the bill earlier this year. Musk, along with Republicans like Rand Paul in the Senate, believe that the bill's spending cuts are insufficient to fund its other provisions and point to projections of trillions added to the national debt over the next decade as reason it should be opposed. But despite failing to meet the goals of deficit hawks to be deficit-neutral or even cut the national debt, Donald Trump and Republican leadership are pressing forward with the legislation. The bill is set to extend the 2017 GOP tax cuts as well as fund a massive surge of mass deportation measures for the federal government, including the hiring of 10,000 new ICE agents. On Monday, Musk vowed to fund Republican primary challengers against any senator or House member who voted for the legislation. '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,' he wrote on Twitter.
