By Peter Nichols
 Just days after he left his powerful position as one of Donald Trumpâs closest advisers, Elon Musk is orchestrating a pressure campaign to sink the mammoth tax and spending package that is the centerpiece of the presidentâs policy agenda.
Musk used X, his social media site, on Wednesday to implore Americans to call Congress and urge it to âkillâ the bill that Trump hails as âbigâ and âbeautiful.â
He also urged lawmakers to rewrite the bill from scratch, putting him squarely at odds with Trump, who had invited him into Cabinet meetings and empowered him to dismantle whole agencies and shrink the government workforce.
The bill, which has already passed the House, faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, where just four Republican defections would spell defeat.
It doesnât sit well with Trump world that Musk is the messenger. Trump is considering when and how to respond to Muskâs gambit, a White House official said. He was âcaught off guardâ but “not entirely surprised” by Muskâs opposition, a senior official said.
Trump had sent Musk off in style, giving him a golden key and staging a goodbye ceremony in the Oval Office that the media covered live.
âThe president wanted to be a nice guy,â the senior official said.
Muskâs posts come a day after his surprising break with Trump over the billâs merits. On Tuesday, he called the measure a âdisgusting abomination,â warning that it would push the nation deeper into debt.
Having elevated Musk and made him a prized sidekick, Trump may discover that the worldâs richest man is a potential nemesis beyond his control.
A White House official downplayed the notion of a falling-out with Musk.
âEveryone here in a senior role understands who Elon Musk is, understands how he acts, understands how he plays,â the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. âThereâs been no surprise when it comes to Elon Musk, because heâs been such a friend to the administration.
âAnd we all know this is coming from a place of business and is not personal.â
But people in Trumpâs orbit were angry that Musk skewered the bill. They were particularly outraged by his not-so-veiled warning that Republicans who vote for it could lose their jobs come November 2026, a person familiar with the matter said. That assertion came after Musk said late last month that he would do âa lot lessâ political spending going forward.
A Republican lawmaker, in a private text chain with colleagues, wrote sarcastically of Musk: âTeam Player.â
Trump is normally quick to clap back at those who publicly oppose his interests. When Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., objected Tuesday on CNBC that the bill would inflate the national debt, Trump swiftly denounced him.
âThe people of Kentucky canât stand him,â Trump posted on Truth Social.
In the case of Musk, Trump so far has been silent. The disparate treatment may be rooted in cold political reality. Paul doesnât have a national following, while Musk, with his capacity to influence the midterm elections, is someone Trump may not wish to antagonize.
Musk spent more than $250 million to boost Trump last year and is free to pour money into a midterm campaign season in which control of Congress is up for grabs. If Democrats seize the majority, they could saddle Trump with serial investigations and perhaps impeachment proceedings in the back half of his term.
Republican lawmakers, too, trod carefully Wednesday when they were asked about Muskâs evisceration of Trumpâs key legislative priority. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana quipped: âWell, let me say this about Elon. I wish he wouldnât sugarcoat stuff.â
âI think heâs really smart,â Kennedy added. âI think heâs entitled to his opinion. Heâs frustrated. I think he believes, in my judgment correctly, that weâre quickly becoming debt slaves.â
Still, Muskâs apostasy shows the inherent risks in Trumpâs executive style. As a centibillionaire, Musk never fit neatly in the Trump administrationâs chain of command. He squabbled with at least two Cabinet secretaries and found that his private interests clashed at times with Trumpâs policy goals.
Trumpâs bill would curtail the electric vehicle and residential solar tax credits that are important to Muskâs Tesla car and clean energy divisions. The measure would also impose a new annual $250 fee on EV drivers.
Musk spoke to Trump personally about extending the electric vehicle credit, a person familiar with the matter said.
He also pressed some senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in recent weeks â before his recent X posts â to keep tax credits in the bill that would incentivize electric vehicle purchases, three people familiar with the conversations said. One of the sources said Musk had lobbied Johnson as recently as in the past few days.
The tax credits had been eliminated to get the most conservative House members on board as part of the delicate negotiations to ensure the billâs passage.
âAbruptly ending the energy tax credits would threaten Americaâs energy independence and the reliability of our grid â we urge the senate to enact legislation with a sensible wind downâ of the credits, Tesla Energy posted on X on May 28, the day Musk officially left his government role.
In opposing the bill, Musk has amplified a point that the more fiscally conservative Republicans also find troubling: The measure would greatly add to Americaâs whopping debt. A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office holds that the House-passed version of the bill would inflate the debt by $2.4 trillion over the next decade.
Paul, the senator from Kentucky, wrote Tuesday that he wants trillions in new debt âremovedâ from the measure and that four of his colleagues âfeel this way.â
An open question is the degree to which Americans care what Musk thinks. His public approval rating was underwater amid his association with the Department of Government Efficiency and the drastic cuts that left many government workers suddenly unemployed. An NBC News poll in March found that 51% of registered voters held negative views of Musk, with only 39% viewing him positively.
Lawmakers seeking campaign donations may be solicitous of Musk and the news media may treat him with outsize interest because of the role Trump gave him, but can he shape public opinion on controversial legislation?
Newt Gingrich, the Republican former House speaker, suggested the answer is no.
âI havenât seen anyâ public constituency for Musk, Gingrich told NBC News. âIf you can find one, call me.â
âIâm a big admirer of his as an entrepreneur, but he never understood the political business, and he doesnât now,â he added.
That having been said, âIâm sure no one on the Trump team thinks itâs helpful,â Gingrich added.
Democrats are delighted by Muskâs dissent and the rift it exposes inside GOP ranks.
âMusk is right about this,â Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told NBC News. âHeâs been wrong about a whole lot of other things.â