Elon Musk has voiced strong disapproval of the sweeping policy bill recently passed by House Republicans and championed by President Trump, warning that it undermines efforts to cut government spending and will massively increase the national deficit—marking his first public departure from the endorsement.

In an exclusive interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the tesla and SpaceX CEO—who until recently led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—said he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill, which increases the budget deficit… and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”

The bill, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” by Trump, extends the 2017 tax cuts, increases funding for border security, rolls back clean energy tax credits, and adds work requirements to Medicaid. Despite its stated aim of fiscal responsibility, the legislation is projected to increase the national deficit by as much as $3.8 trillion by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“I think a bill can be big, or it can be beautiful,” Musk told CBS. “But I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.”

The billionaire's remarks reflect a growing rift with Trump, whom he heavily supported financially in the last election cycle, reportedly donating nearly $300 million to Trump and other Republicans. Musk has since said he intends to spend “a lot less” on future campaigns, stating that he has “done enough” when it comes to political contributions.

The House passed the bill by a single vote, marking a major legislative win for Trump’s second term. The president called it “arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country!”

However, fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks have expressed alarm over the bill’s long-term impact on the national debt. Musk, who has repeatedly warned that the U.S. could go “bankrupt” without serious deficit reduction, echoed those concerns.

The DOGE initiative, spearheaded by Musk in the early Trump years, was intended to overhaul bloated government agencies and eliminate wasteful spending. Though it claimed to have saved $175 billion, it has fallen well short of Musk’s original $2 trillion target. A Financial Times investigation found that much of the purported savings could not be independently verified, citing duplicate entries and inflated projections in DOGE’s accounting.

Musk’s cost-cutting efforts frequently clashed with cabinet secretaries, and last month he stepped away from DOGE to refocus on his private ventures—particularly Tesla, which has struggled with slumping sales, partly due to Musk’s political associations.

He now says he is “back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms,” dividing his time between Tesla, SpaceX, and his social media platform, X.

Musk’s latest remarks also follow his earlier criticism of the administration’s trade policy. He previously called Trump’s trade czar Peter Navarro a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks,” advocating instead for lower tariffs as “generally a good idea.”

Despite stepping back from his formal government role, Musk’s criticism underscores broader concerns among technocratic reformers and fiscal conservatives that Trump's latest bill sacrifices long-term fiscal health for short-term political gains.