WASHINGTON:

Billionaire Elon Musk, who has stepped back from his role of slashing US government spending by firing tens of thousands of people, has criticized President Donald Trump's signature spending bill.

The "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" — which passed in the House of Representatives and now moves to the Senate — would usher into law Trump's vision for a new "Golden Age," led by efforts to shrink social safety net programs to pay for a 10-year extension of his 2017 tax cuts.

But critics say it will decimate health care for the poorest Americans and cause the national debt to balloon.

"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said in an intervie

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