When a bill passes the House by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 427-1, you would usually assume Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) would be in the minority.
But that wasn’t the case Tuesday, when the House voted on legislation to require the Justice Department to release its records concerning the late convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Massie was, in fact, a leading Republican behind the bill, sponsoring it when it was a nonstarter for most in his party.
Being on the losing side of legislative battles, or even the sole vote against a particular bill, is a storied part of the libertarian Republican tradition. Former Rep. Ron Paul was nicknamed “Dr. No” during his 12 terms as a GOP lawmaker, voting against Congressional Gold Medals for Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks. “In Congress, Paul usually stands alone,” Joshua Green wrote in the Atlantic back in 2010, at the height of the tea party and between the Texan’s two Republican presidential campaigns.
Former Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan kept this up when he served in Congress. Amash often voted ‘no’ or ‘present’ on bills that were uncontroversial among his fellow Republicans, often on constitutional grounds. Amash was one of Paul’s ideological progeny. His literal son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), was the most recent Republican senator to buck his party on government funding votes during the 43-day shutdown.
President Donald Trump calls Massie “Rand Paul Jr.” The two Kentuckians and Amash were the top “Ron Paul Republicans” elected to Congress during the 2010s. It’s the Dr. No tendency that has raised Trump’s ire.
While Trump exaggerates how often Massie votes against his party, he has balked at times at what its leadership considers “must-pass” legislation. Massie voted against the tax and spending legislation Trump dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the recent funding bill to avert a government shutdown. He was the only Republican to vote against reelecting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) earlier this year. Trump suggested during his first term that Massie should be thrown out of the GOP for demanding a recorded vote on a pandemic-era emergency spending bill in 2020.
Massie did not ultimately block any of these Trump-Republican priorities, although in some cases, he did delay them.
More than five years later, Massie is still in both the Republican Party and Congress. That’s not something all of Trump’s intraparty rivals can say. When Massie joined forces with progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on a discharge petition to bring the Epstein files legislation to the House floor over the leadership’s objections, he was once again in the minority inside his own party. A recently elected Democrat provided the crucial 218th signature on the petition.
But Massie wasn’t alone. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), an important MAGA lawmaker who has recently parted ways with Trump, and current Trump allies in good standing, Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) were among those keeping this a bipartisan initiative.
Sensing defeat in the House, Trump flipped and urged Republicans to vote for the Epstein legislation, which he signed into law with little fanfare at the White House on Wednesday night. With the president’s blessing, all significant opposition melted away.
“He got tired of me winning,” Massie told Politico, a reference to Trump’s promise to supporters that he will deliver them so many victories that they will get tired of winning.
Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel are among the prominent voices within Trump’s orbit who have promoted the release of the Epstein files in the past. Bondi hosted an event with conservative influencers promoting Epstein transparency, but there was no significant breakthrough in terms of new information.
Trump soured on the Epstein issue once it became clear Democrats intended to use his past association with the sex offender as a way to split the MAGA base. He began likening it to the Trump-Russia investigations that bedeviled him during his first term. The actual political results of the files’ release are harder to predict since Trump’s political opponents also often had relationships with Epstein.
“The Democrats knew about Epstein and his victims for years and did nothing to help them until they thought they could weaponize the files against the President,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
TRUMP SIGNS EPSTEIN BILL AFTER SWIFT PASSAGE IN SENATE
Trump has wanted to see Massie beaten in a Republican primary since before the Epstein saga took its current turn. Chris LaCivita, co-manager of the president’s 2024 campaign, is helping the Trump-endorsed challenger.
Massie’s supporters say no one can claim the congressman hasn’t accomplished anything in Washington after the Epstein congressional votes. This time, the majority came to him.
