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EXCLUSIVE: The No. 2 House Republican is dismissing Elon Musk’s attacks on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” after the tech billionaire once again jumped into the public fray over the legislation.
“His criticism has been consistently off-base,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Monday.
“You know, this is a bill that will create millions of jobs. And, you know, you go back and look at what happened in 2017 when we lowered rates and created a good atmosphere to create jobs, then we saw millions of jobs get created. And we’re at the point again today where the economy is waiting for this bill.”
Musk, who criticized the House version of the bill before appearing to back off, has launched another tirade against the legislation this week while it’s being pushed through the Senate.
SENATE REPUBLICANS RAM TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ THROUGH KEY TEST VOTE
“It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS, that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” Musk posted on X.
But Scalise told Fox News Digital, “We’re moving fast to get it done because of the positive impacts it will have on our economy.”
The Senate is expected to pass the legislation sometime Wednesday, after which it is poised to move back to the House of Representatives.
An earlier version passed the House in late May by just one vote, but the two chambers must now sync up to get a bill on Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July.
Two sources told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning that House GOP leaders are still planning for a 12 p.m. House Rules Committee meeting to advance the bill.
The House Rules Committee is the final gateway before most legislation gets a chamber-wide vote.
That could tee up a procedural vote on the bill as early as Wednesday morning, and final passage by Wednesday evening or Thursday.
“I’ve always said failure’s not an option because, you know, there have been many times where the bill could have fallen apart. And it didn’t, because we always stayed focused on getting it done,” Scalise said. “And that’s that’s where all the focus needs to be right now.”
But the Senate’s various modifications to the bill have angered both moderate and conservative Republicans.
DEM DELAY TACTIC ENDS, DEBATE BEGINS ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’
Moderates are wary of the Senate measures that would shift more Medicaid costs to states that expanded their programs under Obamacare, while conservatives have said those cuts are not enough to offset the additional spending in other parts of the bill.
“We’re having a lot of conversations with our members, and we are following what changes are being made to the bill because some could help fix some of those issues,” Scalise said.
“We’re definitely aware of the concerns from our members. But there are a lot of other members that do want to get this bill passed for the president and recognize that the bulk of what we sent over to them is still intact.”
Asked if he was optimistic about the timeline as of early Monday evening, Scalise said, “The plan is still to bring members back and have votes as early as Wednesday morning.”
The legislation is a 940-page bill advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, the border, defense, energy, and the national debt.
Fox News Digital reached out to Musk for comment via email to Tesla.
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