Republicans privately vent about Musk as they downplay his influence on Trump’s agenda bill
CNN
While GOP congressional leaders and the White House are frustrated by Elon Musk’s comments that their bill is a “disgusting abomination,” they also don’t believe he will impact the vote count.
When Elon Musk declared Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s signature legislation was a “disgusting abomination,” it caught the West Wing by surprise and sent Republican leaders in Congress scrambling, unsuccessfully, to get Musk on the phone. A day later, both GOP leaders and White House officials are downplaying the actual impact of the tech billionaire’s outburst, even as some vent frustration with Musk behind the scenes. White House officials, while annoyed by the matter, said they ultimately did not believe the comments would impact how senators vote on Trump’s prized bill. Two administration officials even went as far as suggesting Musk’s opposition could actually help Trump’s measure, given how toxic the Tesla CEO has become over the course of his time in Trump’s orbit. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune both evinced no worry whatsoever that it would change Republicans’ minds or sink the massive border, tax and spending cuts package. While several GOP senators had been expressing doubts about the bill for weeks, none cited new concerns over Musk’s comments. Republican leaders remain bullish that they can deliver the legislation to Trump’s desk by July 4 – an ambitious timeline. Whatever happens, one thing did seem clear: While Trump and Musk’s alliance is not broken, the two are slowly growing apart as their interests diverge and their relationship becomes more distant. People close to the president view the situation as something of an inevitability: they braced for potential conflicts once Musk no longer enjoyed close proximity with Trump – and the outsized power that goes along with it. The one-time government employee’s recent claims that he would be less involved in politics, coupled with his departure from the White House last week, almost instantly shifted some of the influence he had held for the past several months. Musk continued blasting the bill Wednesday on his social media platform X, pinning to the top of his profile a post from another user that said commentators on Fox News are almost all “in agreement with Elon—to see so many vehemently disagreeing with Trump is wild.”
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