Musk shreds Trump's tax bill as 'DEBT SLAVERY,' vows to unseat Republicans who back it
Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a cabinet meeting held by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
He may have stopped openly feuding with President Donald Trump, but Elon Musk isn't backing off his bid to kill Trump's signature megabill.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO unloaded Monday on the massive tax-and-spending legislation that Trump is pushing Republicans to quickly ram through Congress, labeling it a "DEBT SLAVERY bill" and calling out its supporters by name.
The uber-rich Musk — who spent around $290 million backing Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election cycle and beyond — called for a "new political party."
He even vowed that any fiscal conservatives who vote for the bill will face his wrath in their next primary races.
"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 wrote in a series of posts on his social media site, X.
"And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," he added.
Musk's latest tirade came as the voting is underway in the Senate on dozens of amendments to the massive bill, as part of the complicated reconciliation process that enables the GOP to pass it without Democratic support.
If the Senate passes the revised version of the bill, it must return to the House for a final vote before heading to Trump's desk to be signed into law.
Musk's threats to unseat Republican backers of the bill could carry more weight in the House than they do in the Senate.
All House members face primary and general elections every two years, while senators have six-year terms and staggered elections.
The House elections are held in members' congressional districts, rather than in statewide races, which means that a large injection of campaign cash toward a primary challenger's campaign could make a bigger impact.
Musk has previously sounded off on the sprawling bill over provisions that would hike the debt ceiling by trillions of dollars and roll back clean energy credits while offering a new tax incentive for coal production.
Tesla's energy division sells solar panels. The Senate version of the bill would totally repeal federal subsidies to the wind and solar industries for the projects placed in service after 2027.
Musk leaned into his criticism Monday afternoon, writing, "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," he wrote.
He also singled out two House Republicans, Andy Harris of Maryland and Chip Roy of Texas, who are members of the extra-conservative Freedom Caucus but did not vote against the bill.
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"How can you call yourself the Freedom Caucus if you vote for a DEBT SLAVERY bill with the biggest debt ceiling increase in history?" Musk wrote, tagging both congressmen by their social media handles.
Harris, the Freedom Caucus chairman, voted present for the bill that passed the House in May. He explained at the time that he did so to "move the bill along in the process for the President," but added, "there is still a lot of work to be done in deficit reduction and ending waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program."
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
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