This tweet from Tuesday is what essentially started a high profile spat between one of the wealthiest men on planet Earth and the leader of the free world.
I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 3, 2025
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.
The war of words really ramped up on Thursday with Musk flat out saying that Donald Trump's name is in the Jeffrey Epstein files, which is why his administration isn't making them public as they claimed they would.
I'm not really interested in recapping the utter petulance on display because, as an American who has been gravely concerned over the nation's fiscal health for 3 decades, my disgust with Washington's dereliction of duty supersedes this my embarrassment with this nonsense.
Multiple things can be true here. First, Elon Musk is correct in that the "Big Beautiful Bill" is an abomination and thus completely undermines the work put for by the DOGE folks. It would also add north of $2 trillion to an already incomprehensible $37 trillion national debt. On the other hand, Musk should have kept his powder dry. The fact is the Senate still has to vote on the measure, and it's been very clear that a few GOP Senators are not on board with this legislation in its current form. I get Musk's frustration with the process, but he's getting a firsthand look at how the sausage is made in the legislative process. It's just flat out messy. That and the fact Republicans have a scant 3-seat majority in the House means it's inevitable not all 220 GOP members would be on board with the massive cuts recommended by DOGE. Since there will be zero Democrat support for the BBB, there's very little wiggle room for Republicans.
But even if the BBB passes in some similar form as to what the House OK'd, there is still a workaround to implementing cuts outside that legislation. Erick Erickson explains.
Congress can draft legislation that rescinds spending found by DOGE. But doing so would go through the normal legislative process and risk a filibuster in the Senate.
Under the actual law governing rescission, the President can transmit a letter to Congress outlining spending he thinks should be rescinded. Congress can, within forty-five days, approve or reject the spending and the filibuster cannot be deployed.
As Elon Musk depart(ed) the White House with a presidential press conference (last week), the President’s team (sent) a rescission package to Congress. They might do it in batches, instead of one bill. My friend Wade Miller at the Center for Renewing America makes the the case for a pocket rescission.
Essentially, if the President transmits the rescission to Congress toward the end of the fiscal year with less than forty-five days for consideration before September 30th, the President can effectively rescind the spending on his own.
If indeed this is the way forward, you would think this would be palatable to Musk. As such, the war of words between he and Trump seems counterproductive. I get a sense Musk just doesn't understand there are parliamentary protocols in place. If indeed that's the crux of the matter, it sure woulda been nice for someone from the administration to convey that explanation as opposed to two egomaniacal men engaging in a Mean Girls reenactment.
Anyhow, the clock's ticking here.
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