Megabill spat

Johnson, Musk to talk amid megabill spat

It comes after the former DOGE chief has eviscerated the tax and spending package on social media.

Meredith Lee 

Speaker Mike Johnson plans to talk with Elon Musk on Thursday morning as they clash over President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill.

Johnson said in a Bloomberg Television interview that they texted Wednesday night, after Musk urged lawmakers on X to “kill the bill.” The former Department of Government Efficiency chief has blasted the tax cut plan for threatening to grow the deficit. The bill would also undo electric vehicle tax credits that benefit Musk’s company Tesla.

“Elon is a good friend. We texted late last night. We’re going to talk this morning,” Johnson said. “He seems pretty dug in right now, and I can’t quite understand the motivation behind it.”

Johnson has been scrambling to rally Republicans to brush off Musk’s attacks. Musk, a GOP mega donor, has also threatened to target Republicans in the midterms in retaliation. Republican leaders have tried to downplay the fallout, but it’s rattled House GOP lawmakers in particular — including those who were hoping Musk would write campaign checks next year.

Pressed if Musk has asked to save electric vehicle incentives as part of the bill negotiations, Johnson declined to answer but said he’ll let people draw their own conclusions.

Johnson said the tax credits were “important to the leader of Tesla.”

With GOP senators threatening to revise the version of the megabill the House passed last month, Johnson also pushed back on potential changes to the state and local tax deduction hike that was critical to advancing the legislation through his chamber.

Johnson said the Senate needs to “remember” the reality that they can’t “slash” the so-called SALT cap, which the bill would quadruple.

He said he told senators that “I know they’re not in love with it, but I hope they maintain it.”