He may have stopped publicly feuding with President Donald Trump, but Elon Musk hasn't given up on his efforts to kill Trump's signature bill.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO on Monday slammed the massive tax and spending bill that Trump is pushing Republicans to rush through Congress, calling it a "debt slavery bill" and criticizing its supporters by name.
Musk, a super-rich man who has spent about $290 million supporting Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election cycle and beyond, is now calling for the formation of "a new political party."
He even vowed that any fiscal conservative who voted for the bill would face his "revenge" in the next primary.
"Every member of Congress who ran on a platform of cutting government spending and immediately voted for the largest debt increase in history should hang their heads in shame!" Musk wrote in a series of posts on his social media platform X.
He added: "If this is the last thing I do on this earth, they will lose the primary next year."
Musk's latest swipe came as the Senate voted on dozens of amendments to the massive bill as part of a complex reconciliation process that allows Republicans to pass it without Democratic support.
If the Senate passes a revised version of the bill, it must return to the House for a final vote before it can be sent to Trump to sign into law.
Musk's threat to remove the bill's Republican supporters could carry more weight in the House than in the Senate.
All House members face primaries and general elections every two years, while senators serve six-year terms and elections are staggered.
House elections are held in members' congressional districts, not statewide elections, meaning a large infusion of campaign cash into a primary challenger's campaign could have a greater impact.
Musk has previously expressed displeasure with the sprawling bill, whose provisions include raising the debt ceiling by trillions of dollars and eliminating clean energy credits while providing new tax incentives for coal production.
Tesla's energy unit sells solar panels. The Senate version of the bill would completely repeal federal subsidies for wind and solar projects that come online after 2027.
Musk further stepped up his criticism Monday afternoon, writing, “It’s clear that the crazy spending on this bill that raises the debt ceiling by a record $5 trillion shows that we live in a one-party state — the ‘Pig Party’!!”
“It’s time for a new 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 ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus but did not vote against the bill.
Musk @ed the two congressmen’s social media accounts in the post, writing, “How can you call yourself a member of the Freedom Caucus if you voted for the ‘Debt Slavery Bill’, the largest debt ceiling increase in history?”
Harris, the chair of the Freedom Caucus, abstained from voting when the bill passed the House in May. He explained at the time that this was done to “move the bill forward for the president,” but added that “there is still much work to be done to reduce the deficit and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program.”
