US’s biggest Republican donor Elon Musk called on Monday for the formation of a new political party and suggested he would back primary challengers against nearly every single Republican in Congress, The New York Times.
While Musk’s words are often just that, he has dramatically escalated his anti-Republican rhetoric over the past few days. On Monday, he suggested that if the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ passed, he would swiftly form a new “America Party.”
“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” he wrote in one of several Monday posts on X.
“Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
Musk was committing to specific action, saying that he would support Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, among the most prominent holdouts against Trump’s bill. Though various ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ factions have voiced concerns about the legislative package, potentially imperiling its passage, almost every Republican member in Congress supports some version of it.
Meanwhile, Republican debate has focused on how much to cut welfare programmes in order to extend $3.8tn (£2.8tn) in Trump tax breaks.
The proposed cuts could strip nearly 12 million Americans of their health insurance coverage and add $3.3tn (£2.4tn) in debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan federal agency.
The version of the bill senators will soon vote on contains tax cuts that Trump campaigned on, such as a tax deduction on Social Security benefits, and the elimination of taxes on overtime work and tips.
The bill also authorises $5tn in new borrowing that will add to a swelling US debt load - a move that goes against what many conservatives have argued for and infuriated one-time Trump confidant Elon Musk.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
