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Thomas Massie: The Congressman Who Tried to Stop the War

Thomas Massie is a Republican congressman from northern Kentucky, an MIT-trained engineer known for voting his conscience against both parties. From June 2025 on, he was the House member most identified with stopping the war on Iran: he wrote the war powers resolutions, he tried to strip the provision merging the U.S. and Israeli militaries from the defense bill, and he co-led the petition to release the Epstein files. In May 2026 he lost his seat in what has been called the most expensive House primary in American history, with millions in pro-Israel money spent against him. His story is the clearest example in this investigation of what opposing the war costs.

Before the war: the 2020 vote​

Massie's stand began years earlier. After the January 2020 killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the House voted on a resolution restating that the President could not go to war with Iran without an act of Congress. Massie recalled the President calling him beforehand:

"In January of 2020, I had a conversation with President Trump about war with Iran... the President heard that I was going to vote for no war. Basically, the vote was a restatement of the Constitution and that war powers resided in Congress. It was to say that President Trump cannot go to war with Iran without an act of Congress. There were only three Republicans who voted for that."

The President's argument, as Massie tells it: "I'm more anti-war than you are," and an open threat of war would let him "bluff Iran into doing what he wanted and therefore avoid war." Massie's answer: that works "unless they call your bluff." Looking back in May 2026, he said: "That was a mistake that, I think, led largely to him being predisposed to listening to Israel's interests over America's interests with regard to war with Iran." (Sense Receptor on X, May 27, 2026, transcribing an interview with James Patrick posted May 21, 2026).

In the same interview Massie named what he believes went wrong in the President's second term:

"his first mistake may have been making Marco Rubio Secretary of State"

"his second mistake would be letting Lindsey Graham on that airplane so many times, whispering in his ear"

"finally, [maybe his] biggest mistake is letting Israel control too much of his policy. Perhaps it was taking $200 million from Miriam Adelson"

See Miriam Adelson and Lindsey Graham.

June 2025: "not our war"​

On June 17, 2025, four days after Israel attacked Iran, Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna introduced a war powers resolution. Massie: "Congress has the sole power to declare war against Iran. The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war." (Massie press release). The resolution drew support from about 15 Democrats and was endorsed by NIAC Action and other peace groups (Drop Site via Israel-Palestine News; @Gladiator0_00, February 20, 2026). The United States bombed Iran on June 22 before the House voted.

2026: the war powers votes​

When the larger war began on February 28, 2026, Massie brought the resolution back. On March 5 it failed 212 to 219; Massie and Warren Davidson were the only Republicans voting yes. Massie on why his colleagues avoided the vote: "That debate is meant to be arduous. And that vote is meant to be hard. I think my colleagues don't want to go on record, because we have a terrible track record of meddling in the Middle East." (Roll Call, March 5, 2026). By July he was posting: "Congress just voted AGAIN to END the WAR in Iran. Four of us on the Republican side: myself, Barrett, Davidson, Fitzpatrick." (Massie on X, July 23, 2026; about 730,000 views). See the vote record.

"Withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month"​

On June 2, 2026, Massie posted the most widely seen statement of the America First case against the war:

"It's all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month and they'll stop bombing their neighbors - instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon. Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American tax payers."

(Massie on X, June 2, 2026; about 167,000 likes and 4 million views).

Section 219: "We are a sovereign country"​

In June 2026 the House defense bill included Section 224 (later 219), creating a Pentagon office to integrate U.S. and Israeli weapons development. Massie: "If the provision in the NDAA to integrate/synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries (section 224) makes it out of committee, I'll offer an amendment to strip it from the bill on the floor." (Military.com, June 18, 2026). He wrote three words that summed up his position: "We are a sovereign country." (Newsweek, June 9, 2026). He and Khanna filed the amendment; the Rules Committee refused to allow it (see how the vote was blocked).

The primary: "whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress"​

The President campaigned against Massie in Kentucky on March 11, 2026, saying he "has got to be voted out of office as soon as possible." On May 19, 2026, Massie lost the Republican primary to Ed Gallrein, a Trump-endorsed challenger. Wikipedia's summary of the race calls it the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, with over $32 million in ads and more than $9 million from pro-Israel groups against him (Wikipedia). Massie called the race a "referendum on whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress." The New York Times described Gallrein as "heavily backed by pro-Israel donors" (New York Times, June 29, 2026). One summary reported the result as Gallrein 54.9 percent, Massie 45.1 percent, and said his concession crowd chanted "2028!" (@NoMoreDebate on X, September 24, 2026).

Posters put the spending higher and blunter: one said AIPAC "spent $32 million removing him before he could cast the vote" on Section 224 (@LostMyHats on X, June 3, 2026); that attributes the entire race's spending to one group, which the records do not show. Mario Nawfal: "Thomas Massie was taken out with the most expensive House primary in history. Now we know why" (Nawfal on X, June 1, 2026). A tracker put Israel-lobby money to Massie himself at $14,650 from individual bundlers and nothing from pro-Israel PACs (@WellsJorda89710, as captured). He took no AIPAC money and paid for it.

Why his defeat matters​

Massie's defeat was a message to the other 434 members. He had voted against aid packages to Ukraine and Israel, against extra Iron Dome funding, and against the 2026 Iran campaign (@NoMoreDebate). He co-led the Epstein files petition with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who left Congress after threats to her son (see the pressure on Greene). With both gone, the loudest Republican opponents of the war, of Section 219, and of the Epstein cover-up were out of the House within six months. Two months after his loss, the House passed the defense bill with Section 219 intact by 216 to 212, and lawmakers were denied a separate vote on it (The Intercept, July 22, 2026). In August 2026 Massie joined Greene, Tucker Carlson, and Joe Kent in announcing a break with the President over foreign policy.

Status: Alive. (Thomas Massie. Also alive: Ro Khanna, Ed Gallrein, Warren Davidson, Donald Trump.)

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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