Rep. Massie dares MAGA to primary him over refusal to back Trump spending plan

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Mar 11, 2025

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NEW YORK — Republican Rep. Tom Massie is daring allies of President Donald Trump to primary him as he refuses to support a GOP-backed stopgap spending plan.

The right-wing fiscal hawk insisted he won’t back down to pressure from the White House to get on board with a short-term spending bill that would avert a government shutdown as soon as Friday.

“Someone thinks they can control (me) by threatening my re-election. Guess what? Doesn’t work on me,” Massie posted on X. “My constituents prefer transparency and principles over blind allegiance.”

The Kentucky conservative insists he won’t drop his opposition to spending bills that he says simply raise the national debt, whether they are put forward by Democrats or Republicans.

Massie already voted against Trump’s bigger budget plan to lay the groundwork for big tax cuts, saying that plan too would just kick the nation’s debt problem down the road.

Trump himself slammed Massie, calling him “an automatic ‘NO’ vote on just about everything.”

“He should be primaried, and I will lead the charge against him.” Trump tweeted. “He’s just another grandstander, who’s too much trouble, and not worth the fight.”

“The people of Kentucky won’t stand for it, just watch,” Trump added. “Do I have any takers?”

Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita picked up the fight, tweeting that Massie “never faced me.”

“Stand by,” LaCivita warned.

Republicans hold just a four-vote majority in the House of Representatives, meaning the GOP can afford to lose no more than one GOP vote if Democrats vote in lockstep against the spending bill.

That means if Massie sticks to his guns, every other Republican would need to support the bill to allow it to pass.

Massie, who represents a deep-red western Kentucky district, is a staunch fiscal conservative who objects on principle to stopgap spending bills and other bills that he derides as fiscal gimmicks.

A handful of other Republicans usually join him in opposing the bills, even those fronted by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. But nearly all of the others have caved to MAGA pressure and say they will vote for Trump’s plan this time.