As NY's senators fight President Donald Trump's budget bill, Elon Musk becomes unlikely ally

WASHINGTON — New York’s Democratic senators  braced for an uphill fight as the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate returned this past week to take up a megabill filled with President Donald Trump’s second-term priorities.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in interviews with Newsday that they were ready for a messaging war aimed at pressuring Republican colleagues with reservations about the budget bill to vote it down, after it passed last month in the Republican-majority House.

Then, the public pressure campaign received an unlikely ally this past week as billionaire Elon Musk, who recently left his post as a special adviser to Trump, unleashed a torrent of posts on his social media platform, X, calling on congressional Republicans to "KILL the BILL."

Now, as the two New Yorkers and other Democrats make what is still a challenging case with Republicans, Schumer has been using the tech titan’s posts as part of his argument. 

"Republicans should listen to him — and actually to their former selves — outraged about the national debt," Schumer told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday, as he held up a copy of Musk’s post that described the bill as "a disgusting abomination."

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Space X, spent nearly $300 million last election supporting Trump and Republican candidates and is an outsize figure in the party. But it remains to be seen what influence his stance on the bill will yield in a party largely loyal to Trump.

Asked about the likelihood that Democrats could influence the outcome of a bill that Trump is pushing Republicans to pass, Schumer said: "We’ll see if they have the courage to vote no. Maybe Musk will give them that courage."

While Musk argues the bill does not sufficiently cut government spending, Senate Democrats argue that it cuts too much from social service programs like food assistance and Medicaid. Senate Republicans leaders hope to pass it before July 4.

The bill, which calls for a range of tax cuts while also changing eligibility requirements for Medicaid and food assistance, would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over a decade, and leave nearly 11 million people without health insurance, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which is tasked with determining the fiscal impact of bills.

Schumer, in an interview with Newsday at his office, pointed to Musk’s post and said, "If he thinks it’s bad, you can imagine how bad it is."

"This is devastating for Long Island, devastating for New York, devastating for the country, and public opinion is mounting strongly against this bill," Schumer said, citing provisions that aim to cut Medicaid and food assistance.

Budget process

Senate Republicans are looking to pass the massive budget bill along partisan lines through the Senate’s budget reconciliation process — a move that allows both parties to pass a budget bill with a simple majority and avoid a filibuster and the 60-vote threshold to pass major legislation.

Schumer, as majority leader, ushered two major packages through the reconciliation process, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in March 2021 aimed at funding the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the $738 billion Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022, which was stacked with President Joe Biden’s legislative priorities, including funds for clean energy projects and expanded enrollment in the Affordable Care Act.

Trump has been pushing congressional Republicans to pass his legislative priorities through the same process in what he calls "one, big, beautiful bill." But Musk sent shock waves through the Capitol this week when he used his social media platform to denounce the bill while taking credit for Republicans controlling the White House and Congress.

"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk wrote in a post Thursday as he and Trump traded barbs online.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have pushed back against Musk’s criticisms of the bill, arguing that it will cut taxes and boost border security spending.

"Obviously he has some influence, got a big following on social media," Thune told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. "But at the end of the day, this is a 51-vote exercise here in the Senate."

For the bill to pass, Thune cannot lose more than three Republican votes. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have previously signaled they would vote against the bill, citing concerns over its size and scope.

Seeking Republicans

Gillibrand told Newsday in a phone interview that she would continue to press Republican senators who have publicly expressed concerns about the bill.

"I’m definitely reaching across the aisle to talk to Republicans who these types of cuts will very much harm their states," Gillibrand said, naming Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia as some of the lawmakers she has reached out to.

Gillibrand, the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, said she would use her seat on the panel to raise questions about "who is being harmed, particularly among our seniors, and who is losing their health care, and who is losing access to the food security programs that keep [seniors] alive."

Even so, Gillibrand acknowledged that it would be difficult for Democrats to gain any concessions as the minority in the chamber.

"I think largely it will be the same bill because I've not seen many Republicans stand up to President Trump, and he wants this bill to pass," Gillibrand said. "I think it is resulting in a significant backlash against Republicans and those who do not stand up to President Trump, and I think it's going to have a significant impact on the next election."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.