Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed Elon Musk’s criticisms of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the Senate recently passed.
Musk has consistently complained that the tax legislation will contribute to the national debt. As a former adviser to President Donald Trump, Musk has advocated against the bill, pledging to create a new political party committed to reducing debt.
“I admire Elon’s leadership on rockets,” Bessent responded to Musk on Fox News’s Fox and Friends Tuesday. “I will take care of the finances.”
Bessent disagreed with Musk’s prediction that this bill will add $5 trillion to the current deficit of over $1.3 trillion.
“Because this bill will set off growth like we have never seen before,” Bessent said. “The CBO projections only project 1.8% per year growth, which is substantially below what we saw in President Trump’s first term. And I think we are going to see big acceleration here. And once you see the growth trajectory change to an upward bias, the bill more than pays for itself. We could be in surplus.”
TUBERVILLE QUESTIONS MUSK’S ABILITY TO FUND PRIMARY CHALLENGERS
Musk claimed Friday that the legislation “gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future,” likely referring to the bill’s end of electric vehicle tax credits. The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday in a 51-50 vote.
Tesla has also been affected by the tariffs Trump imposed against China. While Tesla is the only electric vehicle company that manufactures its cars in California, some of its parts are still imported.