Congress
Musk’s latest megabill bombshell exasperates GOP lawmakers
Elon Musk’s declaration that the GOP’s domestic-policy megabill, the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, is a “disgusting abomination” rocketed around Capitol Hill Tuesday — and frustrated a host of Republican lawmakers.
Inside the Senate Republican lunch, it “got spread around pretty quick,” said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — who, like other GOP senators, was swarmed by reporters afterward seeking reaction to the tech mogul’s blunt musings.
Speaker Mike Johnson had just gaveled the House into session after a quiet recess week when he was set upon with questions. He immediately declared Musk’s take on the House product “terribly wrong” and “very disappointing” — and revealed he’d walked the tech mogul through the bill as recently as Monday.
Majority Leader John Thune, characteristically diplomatic, said only that GOP senators “have a difference of opinion” with Musk and that he hoped “he’ll come to a different conclusion” after learning more about the bill.
Democrats were more than happy to play up the discord over the GOP’s legislative centerpiece, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer emerging from the Democratic lunch with a printout of the post and giddily telling reporters, “I agree with Elon Musk!”
Whether Musk, with all the power he wielded in D.C. over the past several months, will now be able to shape the megabill — or kill it entirely — is another question, though.
The answer is, probably not, according to several mostly exasperated Senate Republicans who weighed in Tuesday.
“He’s entitled to his opinion,” said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who gave a one-word answer on whether Musk’s message would affect amendments to the bill: “No.”
Even MAGA conservatives who have been among Musk’s biggest Hill backers brushed him off: “We need spending reductions, no doubt. But we’re going to work through it,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri.
Added Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, “I think the Senate should make the bill substantially better, and I hope and believe we’ll do that.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said he just didn’t see Musk’s opposition moving the ball much: “I think the people that are of the same view are encouraged, and I think others are sort of dismissive.”
“I like Elon Musk,” he added, “but he’s one man.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Sen. Eric Schmitt’s name.
The Senate is aiming to leave Washington for a five-week recess early Saturday after Republicans cut a deal with President Donald Trump to punt some of their priorities, including a framework for a party-line spending plan.
The Senate is trying to lock in an agreement that would set up votes on a college sports bill, a stopgap government funding bill, Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination and GOP voter ID legislation, according to a copy of an internal notice reviewed by Blue Light News.
The Senate would then leave Washington until mid-September.
Any one senator could object to the tentative deal, forcing it to be altered or dragging the Senate deeper into the weekend. Senators believe there are still objections to advancing the college sports bill. Democrats are also waiting to see if one of their own will prevent speeding up Blanche’s confirmation.
The breakthrough is a U-turn from earlier Friday evening, when Republican senators emerged from a closed-door meeting predicting they would have to spend Saturday trying to break a stalemate within the party about how to wrap final votes before recess.
Shortly after that meeting, Trump spoke by phone with Senate Republicans including Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah about the path forward for the GOP’s lengthy to-do list.
During the call, according to Johnson, Trump agreed to punt a vote on a budget blueprint for a third party-line spending bill until later in the year. Lee, who has been pushing for action on the separate SAVE America Act, also agreed to drop his demand for a formal, roll call vote on adjourning given the understanding with the president.
“I think the conclusion of the conference – and we had a discussion with the president and he agrees – [is] don’t take the vote tonight,” Johnson said after the meeting in Thune’s office.
Republicans were in talks with the White House throughout Friday. A White House official granted anonymity said Friday evening that “we’re continuing to have productive conversations with senators to advance several legislative priorities.”
Senate Republicans confirmed dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees Friday, just before they leave for a five-week congressional recess.
Senators voted 51-47 to approve officials at the Departments of Defense, Energy, State and other agencies.
They included David Cummins to head the Transportation Security Administration, Cameron Hamilton to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hal Duncan to be OMB deputy director and Francis Brooke to be Treasury deputy secretary. Among the group were several ambassadors, including former Rep. David Brat to be ambassador to Australia.
Senate Republicans changed the chamber’s rules last year to be able to confirm lower-level nominees as a package instead of having to hold a vote on each.
After finishing the expedited procedure Friday, Senate Republicans estimate they will only have a small number of civilian nominees awaiting confirmation.
President Donald Trump said voters may seek to punish Republicans — but not him — in the November midterm elections, as GOP lawmakers sweat that affordability concerns and the war in Iran could mean Democrats flip the House and perhaps even the Senate.
“They’re angry at Republicans,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that aired Friday. “But they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.”
The GOP faces the prospect of heavy losses this November, as gas and grocery prices remain stubbornly high due in part to the White House’s five-month-long war in Iran. The administration’s guidance on campaign trail messaging has been “tone deaf,” House Republicans fear.
Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has tumbled since he returned to the Oval Office last year, and even his biggest supporters have grown frustrated over his Middle East war.
And with a messy, jam-packed slate of primaries now all but in the rearview mirror, Democrats are determined to go on offense. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has 58 seats on its midterm target map that stretches into redder territory — while still facing an uphill climb to take the Senate.
Trump has a massive war chest at his disposal. His MAGA Inc. super PAC reached $400 million in June. The president told Punchbowl he plans to use it to “help Republicans,” but he stressed that he faces no pressure in this campaign cycle.
“I said to somebody, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t understand, I won,’” Trump said, referencing his 2024 presidential election victory. “I’m not campaigning.”
The biggest issue for Republicans this year? That Trump himself is not on the ballot, he said.
“If I don’t run, will those people go out and vote? And that’s the one thing I can’t tell, I’m going to ask them to,” he said.
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