Trump, Johnson Respond to Elon Musk Objecting to Big Beautiful Bill Act

Musk said the bill could be one or the other, but not both.

House Speaker Mike Johnson talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 5, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The White House and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) responded on May 28 to Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk objecting to the major reconciliation bill that the congressional GOP is looking to send to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Musk told “CBS Sunday Morning” in an episode airing on June 1: “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.

“I think a bill can be big, or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.”

Trump said that the bill will “need a lot of votes” and that he is “not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it.”

He said that Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have “done an incredible job.”

In a post on X, Johnson applauded the “incredible” work that DOGE has done to flag “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the federal government, “from the insanity of USAID’s spending to finding over 12 million people on Social Security who were over 120 years old.”

Johnson said the House will codify the cuts that have been made based on recommendations by DOGE.

“The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand,” Johnson said.

He said the House will codify the DOGE-recommended cuts when the White House sends a package of spending that should be rescinded.

Johnson also said that the “House will use the appropriations process to swiftly implement President Trump’s 2026 budget.”

“In the meantime, we have been working around the clock as we prepared for those processes. The House made sure to build on DOGE’s success within the One Big Beautiful Bill,” he said.

Johnson also said that the reconciliation bill deals with mandatory spending, such as Medicaid, while the cuts that DOGE has recommended are to discretionary funds.

The bill, which the House passed on May 22 and is pending before the Senate, consists of making the 2017 tax cuts permanent and instituting no taxes on tips and overtime, and also includes provisions related to U.S. energy and immigration—such as curbing illegal entries and finishing Trump’s wall along the southern border.

The Senate is expected to make changes to the bill.

Johnson also shared a post by Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, who said that under Senate rules, the reconciliation process cannot be used to cut discretionary spending.

“The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill and does not fund the departments of government. It does not finance our agencies or federal programs,” Miller posted on X. “Instead, it includes the single largest welfare reform in American history. Along with the largest tax cut and reform in American history. The most aggressive energy exploration in American history. And the strongest border bill in American history. All while reducing the deficit.”

‘No Time to Waste’ Trump Tells Lawmakers

The president said the bill includes tax cuts, including not taxing tips or overtime, tax deductions on U.S.-made vehicles, strong border security measures, pay raises for ICE and Border Patrol agents, and funding for the U.S. “Golden Dome” missile defense system and “Trump Savings Accounts” for newborn babies, among other things.

Trump added that there was “no time to waste” and urged Senate lawmakers to get to work immediately and send the bill to his desk as soon as possible.

At the same time, the Congressional Budget Office has projected that the tax changes included in the measure will add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government’s $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade.

A separate estimate by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projects that the measure will add about $3.3 trillion to the federal debt over the next 10 years, although it warned that this could rise to more than $5.2 trillion of additional debt if “policymakers ultimately extend temporary provisions.”

On May 24, Musk said he would step back from his role at DOGE to focus on his companies.

“Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms,” Musk wrote on X.

“I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla, as we have critical technologies rolling out.”