On June 5, 2025, Donald Trump and Freidrich Merz, Germany’s new chancellor, met in the Oval Office. A reporter asked President Trump about Elon Musk’s criticism of the domestic policy bill, One Big Beautiful Bill. Trump responded to the question, “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”

The One Big Beautiful Bill grants $25 billion to fund the Golden Dome Project—a dome defense around the United States. To finance the project, the One Big Beautiful Bill cuts funding from the energy and agricultural sector. Two days before the meeting, Musk posted on X, “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it.” Musk’s businesses, notably SpaceX, will be affected by energy cuts. However, Musk’s company has received government funding of around $38 billion. 

Republican senators have split opinions. According to CBSNews, Senator Rand Paul (K.Y.) stated that the president should “take some advice from Elon.” Senator Jim Justice (W.V.) stated that Trump was elected, not Musk, saying, “I stand with the President, and that’s all there is to it.” Even with the apparent divide among Republicans, Trump claimed, “The Republican Party has never been united like this before. It’s never been. It’s actually more so than it was three days ago” (N.B.C. News). It is untrue that, now, Republicans are more unified than ever, as demonstrated by the public divide in support between Elon and the President. 

After Musk’s public shaming of the One Big Beautiful Bill on X, Trump posted on TruthSocial, a social media platform owned by TrumpMedia, that “the easiest way to save money in [the United States budget], billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon’s government subsidies and contracts.” However, Trump has not elaborated further on this.

Not only did Musk publicly shame the bill, but in now deleted posts on X, he stated the President was included in the “Epstein Files”—a document detailing the individuals who flew out to Jeffrey Epstein’s home, and the date they arrived. Epstein’s home is notorious for sex trafficking of young women and under-aged girls. 

Musk also called for the President’s impeachment in another deleted post. Musk claims he is the reason for Republicans controlling the House and having a higher lean in the Senate. Musk also posted a poll asking the question, “Is it time to create a political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?” On June 11, Musk posted on X that he “regret[s] some of [his] posts about @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.” The NYTimes offers a full timeline breakdown of the online feud.

Musk donated $291.5 million to Republican federal candidates, parties, and political action committees in the 2024 election. According to P.B.S., Trump told N.B.C.’s Kristen Welker that Musk could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections. According to ABC News, Trump’s administration is unprecedented. The administration consists of 13 billionaires; this is the first administration to host this number of billionaires, including the president himself. During Trump’s first administration, there were two billionaires in office: Betsy Devos, the former Secretary of Education, and the President, himself. 

With this unprecedented administration, and unprecedented amount of wealth in Washington, new questions arise regarding its impact. Conflicts of interests arise with concentrated wealth. When running for government office, all individuals must disclose their income, assets, transactions of over $1,000 loans, positions in non-governmental organizations, and gifts. However, Musk did not have to relay any of this. Technically, Musk was a “special government employee” and did not have to fulfill this duty of a government official. Musk stepped down from his position on May 29. Special government employees are employed for 130 days or less and tend to be experts in their fields. 

In February Musk was questioned by Democratic senators, notably Adam Schiff (C.A.). In a letter to the White House Chief of Staff, Schiff wrote, “Mr. Musk’s compliance with federal conflicts of interest and other related obligations remains unknown to Congress and the public.” There is supposed to be an Ethics Committee hearing on appointees. However, there was none with Musk. According to an ABC News article written in December 2024, Kedric Payne, senior director of Ethics at Campaign Legal Center and former deputy chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics, stated, “It’s not yet clear if Musk . . . will fall under the disclosure requirements, due to [his] DOGE position being described as ‘outside’ of the government . . . Luckily, there are laws in place that address this specific problem, and they’re typically enforced.” Unfortunately, because of the limited time of special government employees, committee hearings are difficult to conduct.

With the introduction of billionaires to the government, specifically Elon Musk, there seems to be a lack of accountability. As Steve Bannon confirmed, there is a constant flow of information at all times, making it difficult to concentrate on one area of policy. There are limited solutions. With Musk out of office, there will, hopefully, be less online feuding by the President. The precedent set is concerning. Will there continue to be more wealth disconnect between the government and the citizens? Will there be less accountability? While these questions remain unanswered, individuals and governmental employees should continue to uphold morals. When an individual, like Musk, has concentrated power, but no accountability, it should be called out by all levels. Unfortunately, the highest level of government is complicit in this behavior. The solution? Vote. Voice opinions on the failures of higher government in meeting halls, in communities, online, via letters, etc. If individuals ignore the news and allow themselves to become desensitized, individuals in power become comfortable in their corruption.