Elon Musk has hit out at Donald Trump’s mega-spending bill for gutting clean energy tax credits, once again breaking ranks with MAGA Republicans as he ends his term as DOGE slasher-in-chief.
Ahead of a press conference with the president to mark his departure on Friday, Musk and his Tesla electric vehicle company blasted the plan and warned it could undermine Trump’s “drill baby drill” American energy revival.
“Abruptly ending the energy tax credits would threaten America’s energy independence and the reliability of our grid,” Tesla posted on X, which Musk then amplified to his millions of followers.
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Soon after, Musk promoted a post from another user that said, “slashing solar energy credits is unjust.”
“There is no change to tax incentives for oil & gas, just EV/solar,” Musk added, once again highlighting the fact that clean energy was being gutted while subsidies for other sectors remained.
The posts came after Musk expressed his “disappointment” with the Trump-backed reconciliation bill earlier this week, saying that it undermined the savings DOGE had sought to make.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful,” he said. “But I don’t know if it can be both.”
This prompted the White House, which has repeatedly claimed the bill would not add to the deficit, to hit back at the former First Buddy.
“DOGE cuts are to discretionary spending,” Trump top aide Steve Miller clapped back on social media.
“Under senate budget rules, you cannot cut discretionary spending (only mandatory) in a reconciliation bill.”
The clean energy tax credits formed part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is set to be repealed through the reconciliation package passed by the House.
Among other things, the bill would eliminate most credits for electric vehicles at the end of the year, disqualifying Teslas from a $7,500 incentive at a time when the company’s sales have plummeted.
It would also end residential solar credit at the end of the year and rapidly wind down the clean electricity investment credit for all forms of generation except nuclear.
Musk’s latest comments could make the SpaceX boss an unlikely ally for Democrats in the fight to save the Biden-era reforms.
Some have even suggested that the billionaire, who once supported the campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, should consider returning to the fold.
“I’m campaigning for you, Elon,” joked The Five’s resident Democrat Jessica Tarlov earlier this week. “We only talked for a little while when you were on the show, but we’ll take you back and we could DOGE this the right way together.”
Musk will officially leave the Trump administration after a tumultuous few months in which he upended the federal bureaucracy but ultimately failed to deliver the generational savings he claimed DOGE would achieve.
But while Musk’s term at DOGE has come to an end, thanks to the 130-day limit for his “special government employee” designation, Trump has suggested he may be back soon.
“I am having a Press Conference tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. EST, with Elon Musk, at the Oval Office,” Trump posted on Thursday. “This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific!”
