Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) claimed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk would “need a lot of money” to follow through with his threat about making the majority of GOP senators lose their next primary.

Musk has long complained that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will stifle growth for his electric car company and contribute to the national debt. As a former adviser to President Donald Trump, Musk has advocated against the bill, pledging to help challenge “every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history.”

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“You need a lot of money, 51 of us is going to vote for this tonight,” Tuberville told reporter Nicholas Ballasy early Tuesday in response to Musk’s threat. “He’s upset over the subsidies that we’re cutting out of energy, you know, the wind and solar. He thinks that we need to do more with energy, and I agree with that.” 

“But we can’t keep funding it through the federal government. We’ve got to go out there and do it the right way, through private enterprise, like he’s done it. We can’t keep the federal government involved in everything all the time,” Tuberville added.

Musk claimed the legislation “gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future” on Friday, before the Senate voted to allow the bill to progress through the chamber. The bill cleared the Senate in a 51-50 vote on Tuesday.

This was likely in reference to the bill’s proposal to end electric vehicle tax credits. The bill also includes bigger cuts to renewable energies such as solar and wind. Companies that continue to use Chinese-manufactured parts can also expect an extra tax.

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The only Republican senators who voted against the bill’s progress on Saturday were Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC). Tillis faced Trump’s ire as a result of his vote. The president had already criticized Paul because he “votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas.” After Tillis voted against advancing the bill, Trump announced he would meet with primary challengers for his seat.

Tillis responded to Trump’s threat by announcing he wasn’t planning to run for reelection in 2026. The North Carolina senator explained he voted against the bill due to the “devastating” changes to Medicaid.