Musk nukes Johnson and Thune
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Elon Musk is aiming his ire, and massive online following, at House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
Why it matters: In private, Musk failed to save the electric vehicle tax credit from being axed by the Trump budget bill, our colleague Marc Caputo scooped earlier today. Now he's trying to nuke the entire bill.
- In the process, Musk is giving fodder for Democratic ad-makers next fall.
- "Congress is making America bankrupt," he posted after calling the House-passed budget bill a "disgusting abomination."
💪 This is a big test of Musk's real political power, especially when so much of his influence over the past six months has flowed from his tight relationship with President Trump.
- ☹️ "My friend Elon is terribly wrong," Johnson told reporters after Musk's posts today.
- "I know that the EV mandate — very important to him. That is going away, because the government should not be subsidizing these things as part of the Green New Deal. And I know that has an effect on his business. And I lament that," Johnson said.
- Thune said he hopes Musk will keep reading the bill and "come to a different conclusion."
📲 Zoom in: Musk blasted out his post while Republican senators were gathered for their weekly lunch.
- Phones were passed around and the post was discussed toward the end of the meeting, attendees told us.
- "We obviously respect everything Elon did on DOGE. On this we just have a difference of opinion," Thune said.
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told us he understands Musk's frustration with the spending levels, adding he hopes the Senate version of the bill will have more spending cuts.
The intrigue: Musk's outburst came the same day that the White House sent its rescissions package to Congress, which will allow Congress to codify many of the cuts identified by Musk's DOGE.
- Johnson told reporters he will "move it as quickly as our rules allow us," setting up a possible floor vote next week for Congress to cut funding to NPR, PBS and USAID.
— Stef Kight and Hans Nichols
