Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) continued his public feud Monday with President Donald Trump after Trump bombed Iran on Saturday without congressional approval.
Massie joined MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes” alongside Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), with whom he has introduced a war powers resolution to restrain Trump’s unilateral military actions.
The Kentucky lawmaker said he isn’t afraid of speaking out, unlike some of his Republican colleagues.
“In some sense, I have the Trump antibodies,” Massie told Hayes. “And I do want to point out that the ceasefire so far doesn’t mention anything about what our bombing of Iran was predicated on, which is destroying a so-called nuclear program.”
“Well, does this mean that Trump’s a party to the ceasefire?” he continued. “He says that Iran and Israel are. I hope the United States is, as well, because if it’s not, we’re going to have to push this [war powers resolution] through Congress.”
Israel used warplanes and drones earlier this month to kill top Iranian officials, despite Trump claiming last month that he had “warned” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to do so ahead of scheduled negotiations with Iran about its nuclear capabilities.
The act of aggression prompted retaliatory strikes from Iran, and then U.S. strikes on Saturday on apparent Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump announced Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, only to confirm Tuesday that they had both violated the agreement.
Massie’s MSNBC appearance preceded the violations and Trump’s claim later that the ceasefire was back on.
The lawmaker said Monday that despite expected GOP opposition to the resolution, he believes some Trump officials — such as Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — quietly support it.
“But of course, they can’t speak out,” said Massie. “And a lot of my Republican colleagues here in Congress, they’re afraid of [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], who is playing in a lot of races recently. That’s the Israeli lobby here in Congress. And they’re also afraid of crossing our own president.”
“I found it frustratingly hard to gain co-sponsors for what should be constitutionally obvious, which is the president can’t engage in acts of war without authorization from Congress,” he added, citing former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush seeking congressional approval ahead of their wars against Iraq.
Massie and Khanna introduced their resolution last week to prevent the use of U.S. military force in Iran unless Congress authorizes it. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) objected to this on Monday by arguing that past presidents have bombed countries without approval.
Massie wrote Monday on social media that the measure has 57 co-sponsors and will be voted on regardless of pushback. On MSNBC, he pounced on Trump for calling him “pathetic” on Sunday over Massie’s opposition to war with Iran and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Well, you know, I [re]tweeted his message to me, and I said, ‘The president’s declared war against me so much, I think he needs an act of Congress to validate this,’” Massie joked.
