Over the past week, Elon Musk, tech-billionaire and former head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has launched a broadside against the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Using his platform on X, Musk called the bill fiscally reckless which would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt. America’s total debt already exceeds $36 trillion.
As the bill made its way through Congress, Musk escalated his opposition, vowing to bankroll primary challengers against nearly every Republican who backed it.
He said that if the bill passes, Republicans are no different from Democrats, whom conservatives routinely accuse of reckless spending. The legislation, backed by Donald Trump, includes sweeping tax cuts and deep reductions to healthcare and food assistance.
On Monday, Musk declared on X: “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day.”
He has been dropping hints about launching a new political party since early June. A recent Congressional Budget Office analysis estimates that the Senate version of the bill would add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over ten years; the House version, $2.4 trillion. Musk has criticised both.
The fight turned personal on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump attacked Musk’s business empire and foreign origins. He claimed Musk would have to “head back to South Africa” without US subsidies, and accused him of receiving “more government subsidies than any human being in history.”
With Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill now officially passed, thanks to a tie-breaking vote by JD Vance, the showdown appears to be moving into a new phase.
Will Musk form the new party? For now, he has the name: America Party.
What is America Party?
The Tesla CEO posted a poll on X asking whether it was time to form a new political party representing the “80 per cent in the middle.” The poll drew 5.6 million votes, with over 80 per cent saying yes.
While such polls aren’t representative of the broader public, Musk has repeatedly cited the result as proof of public support for a new party.
Musk believes the vast majority of Americans feel unrepresented by the two main parties. This sentiment reflects a broader trend in US politics. A 2024 Gallup poll found that 43 per cent of Americans identify as independents, more than those identifying as either Democrats or Republicans (both at 28 per cent).
Musk has since embraced the name “America Party,” approving a supporter’s suggestion and framing it as a movement that would truly represent the American public.
But Musk’s effort still confronts the structural impediments that have sunk every major third-party movement in modern American politics.
With vast financial resources, a fervent online following, and a growing disdain for both political camps, Musk clearly believes he can succeed where others have failed.
Rage, resources, and a platform
Musk is not the first to attempt a centrist insurgency against the two-party system. And Trump is no stranger to third-party threats.
In the 2024 election cycle, he faced one of the most well-funded outsider efforts in recent memory: No Labels. The group raised more than $60 million and secured ballot access in at least 18 states, promoting itself as a centrist alternative to the two-party system.
It courted high-profile political figures such as Condoleezza Rice, Larry Hogan, Joe Manchin, and even floated names like Nikki Haley and Will Hurd as possible bipartisan presidential nominees.
Yet despite its resources and early media attention, No Labels disbanded its presidential ambitions after failing to recruit a candidate and facing sustained pressure from anti-Trump coalitions who feared it would split the anti-Trump vote.
The collapse echoed a broader reality in US politics: even well-financed third-party efforts struggle to navigate structural obstacles like restrictive ballot access laws, limited media coverage, and the ever-present “spoiler” stigma.
Elon Musk enters this space with unprecedented advantages: financial firepower, massive online reach, and a loyal following.
His viral X poll backing a new party drew over 5.6 million responses, and his 2024 political contributions surpassed $300 million. But even with that momentum, a recent YouGov poll found just 8 per cent of voters would back him over Trump.
Long road to nowhere
The first serious attempt to challenge the American party duopoly came in 1828, with the formation of the Anti-Masonic Party, founded in 1828, marked the first attempt to break the dominance of America's two-party system.
Emerging from public outrage over the secretive influence of Freemasonry, it introduced lasting political tools like national conventions and formal platforms. But the party’s narrow focus and limited coalition made it unsustainable; its supporters were eventually absorbed into the emerging Whig Party.
A more formidable third-party run came in 1968, when George Wallace’s American Independent Party, fuelled by Southern backlash to civil rights, won five states and 46 electoral votes.
But Wallace’s campaign was too regionally and ideologically narrow to scale nationally, and his strategy to force a brokered election failed when Nixon secured a majority. Wallace’s momentum collapsed soon after.
Another significant third-party campaign from US history remains Ross Perot’s 1992 presidential bid, which is often held up as the high-water mark for outsider politics.
As a billionaire outsider, Perot appealed to widespread dissatisfaction with both major parties. His plainspoken advocacy for fiscal responsibility and trade reform, combined with a solid media strategy, gave him an early boost, he polled at 39 per cent nationally and secured a spot in the televised debates.
But Perot’s sudden mid-campaign withdrawal, organisational dysfunction, and increasingly erratic behaviour undermined his credibility. He re-entered the race and secured 18.9 per cent of the popular vote, but still insufficient under the Electoral College system. Perot’s Reform Party failed to replicate his earlier appeal.
In 1996, he was excluded from the debates and won just 8.4 per cent of the vote. The party quickly fractured into warring factions, aligned with Pat Buchanan, Jesse Ventura, and even, briefly, Donald Trump. Lacking internal cohesion or institutional reach, it faded within a decade.
Then in 2000, Ralph Nader’s campaign for the Green Party captured growing frustration with corporate influence and the perceived similarity between Democrats and Republicans.
Running on a progressive platform, Nader gained national attention and earned nearly 3 million votes. However, he fell short of the 5 per cent threshold required for federal funding.
History shows that public appetite for alternatives is real, but without structural reform, third-party candidates remain trapped between political sentiment and electoral reality.
For all his influence and resources, Elon Musk is not immune to the structural realities that have repeatedly defeated third-party ambitions. Unless the underlying system changes, the America Party may end up as yet another cautionary tale, fuelled by frustration, powered by personality, but ultimately undone by design.