House Republicans expressed uneasiness with the escalating feud between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk and called for cooler heads to prevail.
Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas demanded Musk stop attacking Trump and said “this tit-for-tat going back and forth, isn’t helping.” While he praised Musk as “very gifted and talented,” Nehls said, “But to start making statements like that, I think, are irresponsible and certainly not healthy. So stop. You’ve lost your mind.”
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voted against the bill last month, warned that the legislation is on “life support” and that the Senate could be “endangering” it.
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee appeared to suggest that the feud between Trump and Musk was inevitable. Asked how much Musk’s criticism will hurt Republicans, Burchett said, “At some point it falls on deaf ears, I think. It’s just eventually, people are tired of hearing it.”
Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio is hoping to play peacemaker — inviting Trump, Musk, Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice President JD Vance and Massie to a private dinner “to mend all these fences.” He declined to go into details about who he’s heard from in response to his invitation.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio told CNN that the bill will pass and “we’ll be just fine” despite Musk’s relentless bashing of the bill.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a hardline conservative who’s objected to parts of the bill, told CNN flatly “no” when asked if he was concerned about Trump and Musk’s public breakup. “I think maybe they should count to 10” Roy said when asked about Musk’s supporting calls for Trump to be impeached.
