Elon Musk takes jab at Trump’s 'big, beautiful, bill': 'I was disappointed'



President Donald Trump was working around the clock with House Republican leadership to secure enough votes for his "big, beautiful bill." After several overnight sessions and closed-door meetings, the bill passed the House last week with just one vote to spare.

Although many Trump allies championed the achievement, DOGE head Elon Musk expressed disappointment with the landmark legislation.

'I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful. But I don't know if it could be both.'

RELATED: Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' narrowly passes the House, notching another win for Johnson

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In the days leading up to the vote, the fate of the bill was still unclear. Apart from spending hawks demanding deeper cuts and significant Medicaid reform, the SALT Caucus Republicans kept demanding a higher and higher cap for state and local tax deductions.

With several roadblocks in the way of the bill, Trump met with House Republicans multiple times both on the Hill and in the White House in an attempt to shepherd any defectors. The bill later passed in a 215-214 vote, with two Republicans voting against the bill, one voting present, and two not voting at all.

While most Republicans and Trump allies took a victory lap, Musk said he was "disappointed" by the bill.

"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said.

"I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful," Musk added. "But I don't know if it could be both."

'Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the big, beautiful bill where the House missed the moment.'

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  Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Musk is not alone in his disappointment. Several House Republicans, like House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.), said the bill does not do enough to address federal spending. Notably, Harris was one of the conservative holdouts leading up to the vote and was the only Republican who voted present on the bill.

“I share Mr. Musk’s concerns about the short-term adverse effect on the federal deficit of the limited spending reductions in the BBB," Harris told Blaze News. "Debt markets remained concerned about U.S. total debt and annual deficits. Hopefully the Senate will take those concerns into consideration as the legislative process moves forward.”

Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio echoed Musk's concerns about spending, urging the Senate to deepen spending cuts. Davidson and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky were the only two GOP members to vote against the bill.

"Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the big, beautiful bill where the House missed the moment," Davidson said.

The bill is now on its way to the Senate, where lawmakers will inevitably rewrite major portions of the bill before punting it back over to the House before the proposed July 4 deadline.

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Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' narrowly passes the House, notching another win for Johnson



The House worked through the night to narrowly pass President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" early Thursday morning after another tumultuous week on Capitol Hill.

The bill passed in a 215-214 vote, with one member, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.), voting present. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio were the lone "no" votes on the bill, and Republican Reps. Andrew Garbarino of New York and David Schweikert of Arizona refrained from voting altogether.

The bill's passage has proven to be another impressive feat for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who dealt with uncertainty and skepticism within the Republican conference leading up to the vote.

'Once again, they have been proven wrong.'

RELATED: Spending hawks dig their heels in as White House battles to keep 'big, beautiful bill' afloat

🚨THE “BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL” HAS JUST PASSED THE HOUSE pic.twitter.com/Ae19tZgaQN
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 22, 2025
 

"The media and the Democrats have consistently dismissed any possibility of House Republicans succeeding in our mission to enact President Trump's America First agenda," Johnson said in a statement. "Once again, they have been proven wrong."

To the speaker's point, Johnson spent the last few weeks homing in on a balancing point that would eventually satisfy as many Republicans as he needed to get this bill passed. Fiscal hawks like Harris and Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) fought for meaningful spending cuts, legitimate Medicaid reform, and eliminating IRA subsidies before they signed off on the bill. They even met with the president alongside HFC colleagues on Wednesday after Trump's Capitol Hill appearance failed to persuade them.

Johnson was also dealing with the SALT Caucus Republicans, who kept refusing overly generous offers to raise the cap on state and local deductions for their blue states. The SALT Caucus eventually accepted Johnson's offer to raise the cap to $40,000, which quadruples the current $10,000 cap.

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  Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Now that Republicans have successfully passed this bill before their ambitious Memorial Day deadline, it is up to the Senate to take up reconciliation.

"We look forward to the Senate's timely consideration of this once-in-a-generation legislation and stand ready to continue our work together to deliver the one big, beautiful bill to the president's desk," Johnson said in the statement.

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Speaker Johnson scores major victory as House narrowly passes his budget



House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) managed to flip enough Republican votes to narrowly pass his "big beautiful" reconciliation bill Tuesday night, securing a major victory for the speaker.

Leading up to the late-night vote, Johnson was facing four Republican "no" votes on his reconciliation bill despite having President Donald Trump's endorsement. Given the GOP's historically narrow House majority, Johnson could afford to lose only one vote, which made reeling in Republican defectors a tall task.

Nevertheless, Johnson flipped three of the four Republican holdouts for a final 217-215 vote tally. To nobody's surprise, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the lone Republican holdout.

'The House laid the groundwork to fund America First priorities while bending the spending curve down.'

"House Republicans got it done tonight. This vote was a key step in the process to deliver President Trump’s full America First agenda," Johnson said in a statement following the vote. "I’m grateful to my colleagues, especially Chairman Arrington and Chairman Smith. Tomorrow, we roll up our sleeves and get right back at it."

"Big First Step Win for Speaker Mike Johnson, and AMERICA," Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday. "Now let’s start to BALANCE THE BUDGET. IT CAN BE DONE!!! DJT."

Although a handful of Republicans gave Johnson a hard time, several fiscal conservatives were in support of the bill before it ever hit the floor. Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Chip Roy of Texas, who have historically been defectors in previous spending fights, affirmed their support for the Trump-backed bill.

"Last night, the House laid the groundwork to fund America First priorities while bending the spending curve down," Biggs said in a Wednesday post on X. "House Republicans are committed to fulfilling the mandate delivered by the American people."

'I am hopeful and optimistic, and we’ll see if they can pull it off.'

The budget blueprint sets the stage to extend Trump's tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year. The bill additionally allocates much-needed border and defense spending while also reducing certain aspects of spending.

The House is now caught up with the Senate, which approved its own budget blueprint the week before. Although both the House and the Senate are addressing Trump's policy priorities like border funding, tax extensions, and spending cuts, the Senate has opted for a two-bill approach as opposed to the House's single-bill approach.

With the Senate bill acting as a backup, Republicans are hopeful they can get Johnson's budget proposal through.

“I am hopeful and optimistic, and we’ll see if they can pull it off,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.

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The handful of Republican holdouts Johnson has to reel in for reconciliation



As Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) works around the clock to rally Republicans behind his "big beautiful" reconciliation bill, some members of the GOP are still holding out.

Ahead of the highly anticipated vote, Johnson was tasked with reeling in both moderates and fiscal conservatives who had reservations about reconciliation. Moderates in blue and purple districts felt the cuts in the budget blueprint went too far, while fiscal conservatives felt the cuts didn't go far enough. Notably, Johnson can afford to lose only one Republican vote to get reconciliation out the door.

Despite the diversity of opinion within the Republican conference, Johnson told Blaze News that he has no intention of reaching across the aisle to get his budget proposal passed, noting that reconciliation has always been a "partisan exercise."

'None of us are going to get everything we want, but we will be able to pass what I think could be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in many, many years, maybe decades.'

Still, he made some inroads, particularly among moderates, who usually acquiesce after some lobbying from the Republican leadership.

Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska came out of a meeting Monday saying he felt "a little more comfort" about Johnson's proposal. Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York similarly went from leaning no on reconciliation to undecided and eventually to lean yes all in one day.

"I disagree with my colleagues," Malliotakis said of fiscal conservatives Tuesday. "Unfortunately there are some that want to vote no on this resolution because they say it doesn't go far enough and we need to cut more. But we need to do this with a scalpel, I've said this repeatedly, not a sledgehammer."

The sledgehammer-wielding Republicans Malliotakis is referring to include the usual suspects.

As of now, Johnson remains optimistic, focusing his efforts on whipping his conference behind the budget resolution.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has historically opposed many of the GOP's spending proposals, said Monday that "if the Republican budget passes, the deficit gets worse, not better." Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana similarly voiced her opposition to the resolution on Sunday, citing fiscal concerns.

Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee took issue with the budget proposal, saying he wanted more assurances on spending cuts and a permanent extension on President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts. Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio also criticized the bill, saying there was "no path" to pass the resolution without addressing the looming funding deadline on March 14. As of now, there has been no proposed continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown before mid-March.

Although Johnson doesn't currently have the votes on paper, he has secured major cuts in the bill with the help of past budget critics like Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, giving him a leg up in ongoing negotiations. As of now, Johnson remains optimistic, focusing his efforts on whipping his conference behind the budget resolution.

"We're not going to have any Democrats, which means we are going to have to have every single Republican," Johnson told Blaze News.

"I'm convinced that, at the end, it's going to work," Johnson added. "None of us are going to get everything we want, but we will be able to pass what I think could be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in many, many years, maybe decades."

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Republican Rep. Warren Davidson says Trump has been 'endorsing moderates' running against conservatives



Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio said that former President Donald Trump has been backing moderate candidates in most cases where there is a conservative running.

"He is endorsing moderates in most races if there's a conservative in the race," Davidson said, according to Punchbowl News. "We can't send the swamp any people that are just going to keep funding the status quo."

'We can't drain the swamp if he is endorsing moderate squishes.'

Blaze Media's Daniel Horowitz praised the congressman, tweeting, "Kudos to @WarrenDavidson. Someone needs to say it."

North Dakota state Rep. Matt Heilman also agreed with Davidson: "100%. The endorsements have been so disappointing. We can't drain the swamp if he is endorsing moderate squishes," he tweeted.

But U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) said in a post, "Did anyone take a second to think maybe Trump would like to actually govern instead of screaming at the sky and pretending like you are accomplishing anything other than getting yourself reelected? Did that occur to anyone?"

Trump, who is the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is backing incumbent GOP Rep. William Timmons in the Republican primary for South Carolina's 4th Congressional District. Timmons is facing a challenge from state Rep. Adam Morgan, the South Carolina freedom caucus chairman.

"[Trump] needs to listen to a lot of different people on who to endorse," GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, said, according to Punchbowl, which reported that Norman supports Morgan. "I don't know how much time and thought he puts into it."

Norman backed Nikki Haley for president last year, but she ultimately dropped out of the Republican presidential primary earlier this year. Norman has indicated that he supports Trump, according to The Hill.

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