Billionaire entrepreneur and former Efficiency Czar Elon Musk has publicly broken ranks with President Donald Trump, criticizing the administration’s widely promoted budget legislation. Musk took to his X platform (formerly Twitter) to denounce the bill, which passed the House of Representatives this week and is now headed to the Senate.
"I'm sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore," Musk wrote. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it—you know you did wrong. You know it."
Musk was referring to what President Trump has called a “big and beautiful” bill, which is projected to add $4 trillion to the national debt and increase the federal budget deficit by $2.6 trillion.
In a recent interview, Musk further criticized the bill, claiming it would undo much of the progress achieved by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was created during Trump’s second term to root out wasteful federal spending.
DOGE had initially garnered significant momentum, with Musk announcing that the office had identified and eliminated $175 billion in wasteful expenditures through canceled contracts and grant terminations. However, that figure is widely believed to represent only a fraction of the inefficiencies present in federal spending.
Recently, DOGE's efforts have stalled, particularly in attempts to audit the Department of Defense—an area widely suspected to be home to substantial fiscal waste.
While Trump and Musk have maintained a cordial relationship publicly, with Musk appearing alongside the president in the Oval Office just last week after formally stepping down from his administration post, tensions now appear to be rising. Musk’s recent comments suggest a deepening rift between the two high-profile figures.
According to media reports, President Trump recently questioned the effectiveness of DOGE in private, allegedly asking aides, “Was it all bullshit?”—a remark widely interpreted as a veiled criticism of Musk’s tenure and stated mission in Washington.