Trump Bill Cuts CFPB Funding, Ends EV Tax Credit, Provokes Musk
In a special July 4 ceremony at the White House, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, cementing the administration’s taxation strategy and budget priorities.
Among the OBBBA’s targets is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB, a division of the Federal Reserve System, will now account for 6.5% of the Fed’s total operating expenses, down from a maximum of 12%. Officials say the reduction will not affect the CFPB’s mission, which includes investigating consumer complaints against auto dealers.
In a statement, Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and chair of the Senate Banking Committee, says the CFPB will be more efficient, not less effective.
“With President Trump’s signature on the One Big Beautiful Bill, we’ve delivered a victory for the American people,” Scott writes, in part. “From reining in the unaccountable Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to defunding wasteful Green New Deal spending, to eliminating a Securities and Exchange Commission slush fund, I’m proud of the Banking Committee’s important provisions that help deliver on President Trump’s mandate to cut waste and duplication in our federal government and save hardworking taxpayer dollars.”
The bill also targets clean energy credits, including a $7,500 federal tax credit for buyers of new electric vehicles. The credit will be phased out by Sept. 30, ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline that appeared in earlier versions of the bill.
That provision may have contributed to backlash from Elon Musk, the CEO of EV manufacturer Tesla and a former senior Trump advisor in charge of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Musk criticized the bill before and after its passage, arguing new spending would add trillions to the national debt.
On Saturday, Musk announced the formation of a third major political party targeting centrist voters. The next day, Musk — who spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump and other Republican candidates last year — continued his campaign against the administration in an X post.
“What the heck was the point of @DOGE if he’s just going to increase the debt by $5 trillion??” Musk wrote.
In the official statement announcing the signing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt predicts the end will justify the means.
“President Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill delivers on the commonsense agenda that nearly 80 million Americans voted for — the largest middle-class tax cut in history, permanent border security, massive military funding and restoring fiscal sanity,” Leavitt writes, in part. “The pro-growth policies within this historic legislation are going to fuel an economic boom like we’ve never seen before.”
