‘It’s Like Mommy and Daddy Are Fighting’

Elon Musk, Donald Trump
Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP

Today’s notice: Et tu, Elon? The CBO conspiracy theorists. A remarkable FOIA from the days after the election. The future of the Democratic Party? And: Possibly the best lobbying job in D.C.

Flame War: Elon Musk’s X post calling the One Big, Beautiful Bill a “disgusting abomination” Tuesday “spread around pretty fast” among Senate Republicans, Sen. Ron Johnson, one of the bill’s harshest critics, told reporters.

  • Deficit hawks in the Senate like Mike Lee and Rand Paul gleefully reposted Musk, hoping to build momentum for their efforts to rebuild the Senate version of the bill around their principles. As did Rep. Scott Perry (who voted for the bill).
  • Quite the moment: “It’s like mommy and daddy are fighting,” Rep. Eric Burlison told reporters.

The only real question here is who has more pull: Musk or Donald Trump? Speaker Mike Johnson gave Musk’s post the oh, bless your heart treatment. Asked about Musk’s tweet, he highlighted the fact that the House version of the bill, which cuts subsidies for EVs, could have an impact on Tesla.