Massie is sponsoring what's known as a discharge petition to muscle through a vote on the Epstein files to the chamber floor — not only helping keep Epstein in the headlines, but also threatening to put House Speaker Mike Johnson on the spot.
Were the vote to make it to the full House, Johnson would have to decide whether to invoke procedural maneuvers to avoid the release.
"Let me just say about Thomas Massie. Could you just accept my southern 'bless his heart.' Okay? I don't know what else to say about it. We're we're for maximum transparency. We're engaging in that right now, and we don't need political games," Johnson said this week.
Massie countered that he's being pressured to back down in order to intimidate his Republican colleagues.
"I don't think this issue is going away over August. I think that was the admonition of our Speaker in there... just sort of stick your head in the sand, let the administration maybe dissipate this by dribbling some stuff out. I mean, I'm heavily paraphrasing, but I think that's his strategy. And I don't think it's going to work," Massie said.
Johnson closed the door on a House vote before September on the Epstein files — a move that could allow the issue to cool down or give Republicans like Massie enough time to convince Democrats and a handful of GOP representatives to sign on.