“I believe a bill can be big, and it can be beautiful—but I don’t think it can be both at the same time.” On May 28, CBS News quoted American billionaire Elon Musk during an exclusive interview, in which he expressed disappointment with the “Big and Beautiful” tax and spending bill recently passed by the House and backed by Donald Trump. Musk said the bill undermined the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team. His remarks sparked widespread media attention regarding his relationship with Trump and concerns over the U.S. debt situation.
The “Big and Beautiful” bill is still stalled, with its complexity and deep internal divisions within the U.S. political system making its passage even more difficult. Meanwhile, the unresolved debt ceiling issue continues to drag on, fueling ongoing volatility in U.S. Treasury markets.
“If the Deficit Isn’t Reduced, the U.S. Will Go Bankrupt”
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the “Big and Beautiful” bill by a single vote. The bill now heads to the Senate for a vote. According to the Financial Times, although the bill includes some spending cuts, it has faced strong backlash from so-called “deficit hawks”—those who advocate aggressively for measures to reduce the federal deficit.
Estimates suggest the bill would add over $3.3 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next decade. Elon Musk, who has long warned that the U.S. will “go bankrupt” if deficits aren’t reduced, reiterated this criticism in his interview with CBS. The Financial Times described Musk’s comments as his strongest rebuke yet of the Trump administration.
The sprawling, thousand-page “Big and Beautiful” bill aims to achieve multiple goals through a single piece of legislation, including tax reform under the Trump administration, cuts to healthcare spending, stricter immigration enforcement, and strengthening national defense. It also includes a significant increase to the debt ceiling to prevent a debt crisis. According to Bloomberg, U.S. Treasury officials—led by Secretary Bessent—believe the bill will boost business confidence and unlock consumer spending and investment potential.
Ma Wei, a scholar of American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Musk’s criticism of the bill reflects his deep disappointment. “The ‘Big and Beautiful’ bill will, in fact, continue to expand the U.S. fiscal deficit, which contradicts Trump’s campaign promises—possibly even runs completely counter to them,” Ma said. He noted that Musk has long recognized this, and now that he’s no longer involved with the White House, he no longer conceals his true views—further exposing the bill’s real nature.
“The Wolf Is at the Door”
The “Big and Beautiful” bill fails to resolve the U.S. government’s mounting debt crisis, and markets aren’t convinced. U.S. Treasury bonds remain under selling pressure, with yields staying high.
Bloomberg reported that as the House debated the bill last week, the yield on 30-year U.S. Treasuries once again broke above 5%. Just a week prior, Moody’s had followed S&P and Fitch in downgrading the U.S. sovereign credit outlook, projecting that the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio would surge from the current 98% to 134% over the next decade. U.S. stocks also fell, deepening investor concerns over America’s fiscal health. Bloomberg warned that continued instability in the Treasury market would drive yields higher, potentially stifling economic growth and worsening the fiscal outlook.
Peter Orszag, former director of the Office of Management and Budget under the Obama administration, wrote in a New York Times op-ed on May 26: “I used to think the U.S. debt issue was a false alarm—but now I’m genuinely worried.” He stated that this time, it’s not a case of crying wolf—the wolf is already at the door.
In a report, analyst Li Qi of China Post Securities noted that judging from the bill’s content, the Trump administration appears to lack both the willingness and capacity to make meaningful spending cuts. As a result, the U.S.’s long-term deficit problem is unlikely to be fundamentally resolved, and Treasury yield curves are expected to steepen further. Scholar Ma Wei added that the “Big and Beautiful” bill does little to effectively address the debt issue; instead, it relies on the old tactic of raising the debt ceiling, which will only heighten market concerns and skepticism about the government’s rising debt burden.
Does the Bill Need Major Changes?
According to a May 29 Reuters report, Trump did not directly respond to Musk’s criticisms, but later that evening said he planned to negotiate parts of the bill. “There are some aspects I’m not happy with, but others I’m excited about,” he said. He also stressed the need to rally enough support to push the bill through the Senate: “We can’t just cut spending—you know—we need broad support.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the bill now faces Senate review, but internal divisions within the Republican Party are resurfacing, forcing leadership to once again balance competing views.
If the Senate makes any changes, the bill would have to be sent back to the House for another vote before it can reach President Trump’s desk for signature. Senate Republican leader John Thune now faces a fresh challenge: he must rally more support from an already slim majority while avoiding changes that could break the fragile consensus achieved in the House—hoping to finalize the legislation by July 4.
But the “Big and Beautiful” bill faces strong headwinds, especially from deficit hawks. According to ABC News, Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson want the Senate to make only minimal revisions. However, one Republican senator stated that without major changes, opposition could block the bill altogether. Senator Ron Johnson told CNN, “Our top priority should be reducing the deficit, but this bill actually increases it.” He warned, “We have enough votes to stop this from passing the Senate until the President gets serious about cutting spending and deficits.”
Democrats are also pushing back. According to the BBC, Democratic lawmakers strongly oppose proposed changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the bill as “a reckless, regressive, and reprehensible Republican tax scam.”
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