Featured Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch / Staff / Getty
Elon Musk has been under fire following his push to block and rewrite a 'hugely important' bill to 'keep America running', as it has proposed cuts significant funding for treating children's cancer.
Elon Musk has become a significant player in American politics following his keen support of Donald Trump's US election victory, and by his own mother's admission the pair have been spending a lot of time together.
This has led him to assume power over the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in which Musk himself has promise cuts of over $2 trillion in an effort to pull American out of 'unsustainable' bankruptcy.
His recent actions, however, have seen the technology mogul push heavily against a bipartisan bill proposed by Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson which would aim to fund governmental operations until mid-March.
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Musk's efforts quickly received support of president-elect Trump and other congressional Republicans, but this revised bill has failed to pass with 38 GOP representatives voting against it. This will likely lead to a shutdown of government over the holidays, but it is the new bill pushed by Musk - particular in what it had removed - that many on social media have taken a strong stance against.
It came to light that the newly revised budget would remove funding for five key bills regarding funding for children's cancer, as shown in a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Tommy Vietor.
I support the @DOGE mission of cutting unnecessary spending, and I understand why people hate the process Congress uses for spending bills, but you have to look at what's in the bill the Elon just killed. For example, the five hugely important bills to combat childhood cancer. pic.twitter.com/uM5DAQJGN4
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) December 19, 2024
Bills like the Accelerating Access to Care Act and the Innovations in Pediatric Drugs Act are just two of five key aspects that would have been lost had Musk's newly-pushed revision been passed, and among these include support for cancer drugs specifically for children.
"And there you have it," remarks MSNBC's Sam Stein, "New bill removes funding for this bipartisan child cancer research program. $190 million -- a small drop comparatively -- is now gone. Will need to be passed at some other point, if it can get passed at all."
The world’s richest man took $190 million away from kids with cancer. https://t.co/DvbgvTMvDf
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) December 19, 2024
His MSNBC colleague Chis Hayes quoted this post too, adding that "the world's richest man took $190 million away from kids with cancer."
While this wasn't directly spearheaded by Musk - especially as he is not an active member of government, nor has DOGE officially began operations - it is clear that the Tesla owner worth over $450 billion played a key part in the fight against the original bill.
Musk reportedly posts about the bill on X, which he owns, reached 'beyond triple figures' on his personal account, and he has also utilized 'official' accounts like @DOGE to continue the fight against the original budget.
Musk has even garnered criticism from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, as he posted on X:
"Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is threatening to unseat elected officials if they do not follow his orders to shut down the government during the holidays. Are we still a democracy or have we already moved to oligarchy and authoritarianism."
It's currently unclear what will happen with the budget and the US government as a whole, but Musk has certainly shown how influential he can be within the Republican party even before they have officially taken power.
