Speaker Johnson Downplays Musk’s Influence, Suggests Republicans Will Pass Budget Bill

‘I didn’t go out to craft a piece of legislation to please the richest man in the world,’ the House speaker said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters ahead of President Donald Trump visit on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 20, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on June 8 downplayed tech billionaire Elon Musk’s critical comments and said that House Republicans will pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act backed by President Donald Trump.

Last week, Musk and Trump got into a heated back and forth after the Tesla CEO repeatedly bashed the spending bill on social media. Trump suggested that it was because of its cuts to electric vehicle mandates, and at one point floated cutting federal money to Musk’s companies. Meanwhile, Musk took credit for Trump and the GOP winning the 2024 election and threatened to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.