Elon Musk thinks he can disrupt American’s two-party system. After his frustration with the congressional spending bill, the CEO of X announced the creation of The America Party, aimed at restoring fiscal discipline to the United States.

Prior to the final vote, Musk, in a post to X, called the One, Big, Beautiful Bill “insane.” In that same post, he criticized what he called the ‘uniparty’ of the Democrats and Republicans, who increase the debt regardless of who is in office.

“The incentives for spending are so large. So, I see in Musk a reaction that is perfectly understandable,” said David Strom, a political commentator for HotAir.com.

Other than fiscal discipline, official policy details for the party are few.  However, early in July, Musk reposted a potential party platform that included responsible spending, a military modernized with robotics, a pro-tech vision, free speech, pro-natalism, and “centrist policies everywhere else.”

Prospects for Success

Right now, Musk wants to avoid a big Ross Perot-style third party bid, and instead focus on smaller races.

“One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” Musk posted to X. That way, he explained, the America Party legislators would form a deciding vote for major pieces of congressional legislation.

The America party legislators would “cause independently” and have “legislative discussions” with both parties, Musk posted.

Strom predicts that Musk will run candidates in areas “where you can elect a fiscally conservative member” who would face off against a moderate Democrat or moderate Republican.

Whatever the prospects for Musk ultimately are, Strom agrees with Musk that “government overspending is an existential threat.”

Historical Precedent  

Historically, third parties have had difficulty disrupting the two-party system. The historian Richard Hofstadter once wrote, “Third parties are like bees, once they have stung, they die.”

The one notable exception is the Republican Party – the anti-slavery party that replaced the Whigs. “That’s really the only case of a successful third party having a permanent impact,” Strom told Drew Mariani.