Elon Musk Knifed the Reconciliation Bill. Senate Republicans Are Taking Note.

Senate Republicans already have enough problems with their reconciliation bill. Elon Musk just complicated it even more.

Elon Musk AP-24340687003919
Elon Musk walks out of a meeting with United States Senator John Thune in the US Capitol building. Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA via AP

When Senate Republicans entered their weekly closed-door lunch on Tuesday, lawmakers said they were eager to make progress on their massive reconciliation bill.

By the time they came out of that meeting, however — after Elon Musk trashed the legislation as a “disgusting abomination” and a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill” — Republicans seemed even further from consensus.

Senate Republican leaders have readily acknowledged the reconciliation bill would change in the upper chamber. But there is hardly any agreement on how it will change.