


White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt staunchly defended President Donald Trump’s tax reform bill Tuesday, even as former special government employee Elon Musk unleashed a slew of new attacks against the bill.
Musk had voiced displeasure with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act prior to departing his Trump administration job last Friday. But on Tuesday afternoon, in an apparent response to comments Leavitt made during Tuesday’s press briefing, the billionaire tech mogul posted renewed criticisms of Trump’s bill.
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“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk wrote on X. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Shortly after Musk posted that, Leavitt was asked to address the critique.
“Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it,” she responded.
Earlier in the briefing, Leavitt discounted concerns raised by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and some other Republican lawmakers about the deficit impact of the bill, echoing claims outlined in a report the Congressional Budget Office published.
“It’s not news that they disagree with this president on policy, and the president has vocally called them out for it and for not having their facts together,” Leavitt said. “I would add that the Congressional Budget Office has been historically wrong. In fact, they predicted the Trump tax cuts from the president’s first term in 2017 — their prediction was wrong by half a trillion dollars.”
“I would also point out, and I don’t think many people know this, there hasn’t been a single staffer in the entire Congressional Budget Office that has contributed to a Republican since the year 2000, but guess what? There have been many staffers within the Congressional Budget Office who have contributed to Democrat candidates and politicians every single cycle since,” she continued.
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The House passed the tax cut and spending package last month, and the Senate aims to pass its version by July 4. But fiscal hawks have raised concerns about adding to the national debt.
You can watch Tuesday’s briefing in full below.