Axios Hill Leaders

June 03, 2025
Newsy edition! 873 words, 3 minutes.
- 💥 Musk nukes Johnson and Thune
- 🚨 Scoop: Fetterman chief exits
- 🔥 Scoop: Dems target Bondi
- 📸 Pic du jour: Jeffries agrees with Musk
Situational awareness: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is warning that she's concerned by cuts to AIDS relief in Africa in the rescissions package the White House sent to Congress today.
- "I am concerned about PEPFAR — very concerned — and it looks like there's a cut, but I need to look at it more closely," she said.
- Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) thinks the package, which also cuts funding to NPR and PBS, will ultimately pass.
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1 big thing: 💥 Musk nukes Johnson and Thune

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
2. 🚨 Scoop: Fetterman chief exits
Embattled Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is about to have another new chief of staff, we scooped today.
- Cabelle St. John, Fetterman's deputy chief of staff, will take over for Krysta Sinclair Juris, who succeeded Adam Jentleson as chief of staff last year.
Why it matters: It continues a string of departures following reports of internal concerns about Fetterman's mental health and job performance.
- Jentleson publicly voiced his concerns about his former boss in a New York Magazine story last month.
The big picture: Fetterman defended his job performance yesterday, accusing the media of a "smear" campaign against him.
- "I'm here. I'm doing that job," Fetterman said at an event in Boston.
- He brushed aside concerns about his missed vote record, arguing he has skipped out on "throwaway procedural votes."
— Stephen Neukam
3. 🔥 Scoop: Dems target Bondi

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is demanding documents and other information from Attorney General Pam Bondi about the Justice Department's decision to charge Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.).
Why it matters: The investigation marks a new chapter in Democrats' growing conflict with the Trump administration over efforts to prosecute officials from other branches of government.
- Raskin, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, could run into considerable roadblocks in his probe as he lacks subpoena power.
- His outreach to Bondi signals a potential full-blown investigation should House Democrats return to power after the midterms.
Driving the news: In a letter to Bondi first obtained by Axios, Raskin argued the charges are "in violation of long-standing ... policies designed to prevent exactly this type of politically motivated abuse of prosecutorial power."
- He pointed to reporting that the DOJ did not consult the Public Integrity Section before filing the charges — a departure from rules around the prosecution of members of Congress and congressional staffers.
- Raskin noted that the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, previously served as Trump's personal lawyer, writing that she has abandoned "any pretense of legal independence or official neutrality."
- The DOJ and the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
— Andrew Solender
4. 📸 Pic du jour: Jeffries agrees with Musk

Not photoshop: That's House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sharing a blown-up version of Musk's post.
- "Elon Musk and I agree with each other," Jeffries said. "Every single Republican who voted for the One Big Ugly Bill should be ashamed of themselves."
— Andrew Solender
This newsletter was edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Arthur MacMillan.
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