The Republican US House Member That Throws Against Trump…

N Y Times Opinion
Michelle Cottle

Heading into 2026, Thomas Massie was already the Republican House member whom President Trump most loved to hate.

With his libertarian leanings and a bit of a mulish streak, the Kentucky conservative repeatedly crossed Mr. Trump last year — opposing his domestic policy bill, criticizing his strikes on Iran, forcing the release of the Epstein files and generally refusing to lick the presidential boots. Many months ago, the president committed to ridding himself of Mr. Massie in the coming midterms. Members of his political machine formed an anti-Massie super PAC, ran an early round of attack ads, recruited a primary challenger more to the president’s liking and gleefully trashed the seven-term congressman at every turn.

So did Mr. Massie ease up as he entered a re-election year, facing a nasty fight fueled by an irate president? Not exactly. First, he came out hard against the administration’s Jan. 3 military exploit in Venezuela that captured its president, Nicolás Maduro. A staunch anti-interventionist, Mr. Massie is appalled by what he considers an illegal and unconstitutional bout of adventurism. “Wake up MAGA,” he raged on X. “This is not what we voted for.”

His criticism sparked an online brawl with Mr. Trump, joined by Mr. Massie’s Trump-endorsed primary challenger, Ed Gallrein. The president went heavy on the name-calling — “loser,” “weak,” “lightweight” “RINO” — and urged “all MAGA warriors” to ditch Mr. Massie and “rally behind” Mr. Gallrein. It was enough to make a more skittish Republican cower under the covers.

What did Mr. Massie do for a follow-up? On Thursday, he and his Democratic colleague Ro Khanna ratcheted up their push for the files on Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender, asking a federal judge to appoint a special master to oversee the files’ release. The Department of Justice, they charged, “cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures.”

At some point, you start to wonder if maybe the congressman has a political death wish — if, after so much beefing with Mr. Trump, he is worn out and looking to exit the House in a blaze of defiance. Which is precisely what I asked him when we spoke Friday about his growing friction with the president, and its potential fallout.

Mr. Massie laughed at my question, then offered his very serious take on the election. “My race will be a referendum on whether you can be in the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., and have a thought that diverges from the president’s,” he said. The answer to this question should concern everyone, he maintains. “We have three branches of government, and if the legislative branch becomes a rubber stamp for the president, then we do have a king.”….

Courtsey of DSD @ Politicaldog101

image…U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) ….Harnik/Getty