#thomas-massie
4 entries with this tag
For the Second Time, the House Formally Voted to Order Trump to End His War in Iran — 214-208, With Four Republicans Crossing the Aisle — Because Congress Never Authorized the War, Troops Are Dying in It, and He Ignored the Last Resolution Telling Him to Stop
On July 23, 2026, the House of Representatives passed a war powers resolution, 214-208, directing President Trump to "remove the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran." It was sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and four Republicans — Thomas Massie (KY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Warren Davidson (OH), and Tom Barrett (MI) — crossed the aisle to support it. It was the House's fifth vote on a measure to rein in Trump's Iran military actions, and only the second time it has successfully adopted one. The vote came days after four U.S. service members were killed in the Middle East and weeks after the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding Trump paraded as a triumph collapsed — he declared the MOU "over" and, on July 10, formally notified Congress that fighting had resumed. Congress never authorized this war; there is no AUMF for Iran, and under the Constitution the power to take the country to war belongs to the legislature. Jayapal called it "a big victory for the vast majority of the American people who want President Trump to end this illegal war," saying the House was "reasserting our authority over war." The Senate was set to vote the same day on a companion resolution from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). But the resolution is a concurrent measure that does not go to the president for signature and cannot, by itself, force him to withdraw — the same kind Congress passed in June, which Trump simply ignored as he restarted the war. The vote is a genuine bipartisan rebuke and a real constitutional assertion. It is also a portrait of a broken check: the branch the Constitution entrusts with the power of war telling the president to stop, twice, while he wages on.
Trump Signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act Under Pressure, Then His DOJ Defied Both the Law and a Federal Judge's Order to Release the Files — the Same Associate Attorney General Just Referred for Discipline in the IRS Case Asked the Court to Ignore Its Own Deadline
In November 2025, under intense bipartisan and public pressure, Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which ordered the Justice Department to release all files connected to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation by December 19. His administration has spent the months since not complying. After journalist Katie Phang sued over withheld materials, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled the administration had likely violated the Transparency Act and ordered the DOJ to release and unredact the disputed files or explain why they must stay hidden. Hours before the deadline, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward — the same official a federal judge referred for bar discipline days earlier over the sham IRS settlement — asked Sullivan to delay the deadline by 60 days or disregard it entirely. The DOJ then formally declined to hand over additional unredacted files, claiming the redactions were appropriate and protected victims. Among the disputed materials, according to reporting, are FBI interview notes from a woman who alleged she was forced to perform a sex act on Trump in the 1980s after meeting him through Epstein — an allegation that is uncorroborated and that Trump has strongly denied. Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, frustrated that the department was withholding files it was legally required to disclose while survivors' names leaked out, introduced a second bill — the Epstein Files Transparency Act II. The throughline: a president who signed a transparency law to quiet a scandal, then had his Justice Department defy the law, a court, and Congress to keep the files sealed.
For the First Time in History, Both Chambers of Congress Passed a War Powers Resolution to Stop a President's War — Trump's Own Party Helped Do It
On June 23, 2026, the Senate voted 50-48 to direct President Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran — the first time in the 53-year history of the War Powers Act that a resolution to halt a president's war has passed both chambers of Congress. The House had passed the same concurrent resolution on June 3 by 215-208. Because it is a concurrent resolution, it does not require Trump's signature. Four Republican senators — Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, and Rand Paul — broke ranks to join the Democrats; the measure cleared the chamber partly because Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick, who had blocked earlier attempts, did not vote. It was the tenth time the Senate had tried to stop the war. Sen. Tim Kaine, who led the effort, said: "The most solemn power for Congress is Congress has the power to declare war, not the president." Kaine pressed the vote even with talks underway in Switzerland and pointed to the administration's request for $80 billion in emergency spending to rebuild munitions depleted since the war began on Feb. 28. Trump called the House version "a meaningless vote" and branded the Republicans who crossed him "GRANDSTANDERS." The rebuke is historic precisely because it required Congress to formally tell a president to stop a war that his own intelligence community said was never necessary.
House Passes Iran War Powers Resolution 215-208 — Four Republicans Defect in Sharpest Rebuke of Trump's War
On the fourth attempt, the House passed a war powers resolution directing Trump to end hostilities with Iran unless Congress declares war. Four Republicans — Massie, Fitzpatrick, Barrett, and Davidson — crossed party lines, and Jared Golden switched from no to yes, giving Democrats unanimity. Two weeks ago, GOP leaders pulled this same vote and sent Congress home because they knew they'd lose. A Fox News poll shows six in ten voters oppose military action. The 60-day War Powers deadline expired on May 1. The administration's position: the War Powers Act is "unconstitutional, 100 percent." Three inspectors general launched a joint review of the war.