Thomas Massie

Early life and education

Massie was born in Huntington, West Virginia. He was raised in an Appalachian American culture in Vanceburg, Kentucky. His father was a beer distributor. He met his first wife, Rhonda, at Lewis County High School in Vanceburg.

Massie earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1993 and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering in 1996 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His master's thesis was titled, "Initial haptic explorations with the phantom: virtual touch through point interaction." He participated in the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team in 1990, helping to build the team's car, Galaxy. In the team's first race in 1990, he was the driver for Galaxy in the 1990 GM Sunrayce, finishing at Churchill Downs after ten days, winning sixth place.

In 1992, Massie won MIT's then-named 2.70 ("Introduction to Design and Manufacturing", now named 2.007) Design Competition. MIT professor Woodie Flowers, who pioneered the 2.70 contest, mentioned that Massie watched this contest on television in seventh grade and wanted to come to MIT to win it.

Early career

In 1993, Massie and his wife founded a company, SensAble Devices Inc., that allowed users to feel digital objects that appeared on a screen, based on a technology he invented while in school. He completed his BSc the same year; his thesis was on the same topic, Design of a three-degree of freedom force-reflecting haptic interface. In 1995, Massie won the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventors and the $10,000 David and Lindsay Morgenthaler Grand Prize in the sixth annual MIT $10K Entrepreneurial Business Plan Competition. In 1996, his company was reincorporated as SensAble Technologies, Inc., after MIT's Bill Aulet joined him as a partner. He raised $32 million of venture capital, employed 70 people, and obtained 24 patents during his time at the company, which he sold in 2003.

Lewis County Judge Executive

In 2010, Massie ran for Judge Executive of Lewis County. He won the primary election, defeating the incumbent by a large margin, and then beat the Democratic nominee by nearly 40 points. Massie also campaigned for then–U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul, speaking to various Tea Party groups on his behalf.

Massie resigned as Lewis County judge-executive effective July 1, 2012.

U.S. House of Representatives

2012 election

In December 2011, Congressman Geoff Davis announced his decision to retire from his seat in Kentucky's 4th congressional district. Massie announced his candidacy on January 10, 2012. He was endorsed by Senator Rand Paul and Texas congressman Ron Paul. He was also endorsed by FreedomWorks, Club for Growth (which spent $500,000 on broadcast ads supporting him), Gun Owners of America, and Young Americans for Liberty.

On May 22, 2012, Massie won the Republican nomination, beating his closest opponents, state representative Alecia Webb-Edgington and Boone County judge-executive Gary Moore, by a double-digit margin. In his victory speech, Massie thanked "the Tea Party, the liberty movement, and grassroots Ronald Reagan Republicans". He faced Democratic nominee Bill Adkins in the general election, and was expected to win the election by a wide margin. Massie resigned as Lewis County judge-executive effective July 1, 2012, to focus on his campaign for Congress and allow an election to be immediately held in order to replace him. He was succeeded by Lewis County deputy judge-executive John Patrick Collins, who was appointed temporarily by Governor Steve Beshear. On July 31, 2012, Congressman Geoff Davis resigned from office, citing a family health issue for his abrupt departure. On August 1, 2012, the Republican Party committee for Kentucky's 4th congressional district voted unanimously to endorse Massie as the party's nominee once a special election was called. Beshear called a special election to take place on the same day as the general election, November 6. This meant Massie ran in two separate elections on the same day – a special election for the right to serve the final two months of Davis's fourth term (within the lines that had been drawn after the 2000 census), and a regular election for a full two-year term (within the lines that had been drawn for the 2010 census). On November 6, Massie won both elections by a wide margin.

Tenure

Massie was sworn in for the balance of Davis's term on November 13, 2012. He thus gained two months' seniority on the rest of the 2012 House freshman class. As a measure of how much the Cincinnati suburbs have dominated the district, he became the first congressman from the district's eastern portion in 45 years.

Upon arriving in Congress he was assigned to serve on three committees: Transportation and Infrastructure, Oversight and Government Reform, and Science, Space and Technology. He later became chair of the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, replacing outgoing chair Ben Quayle.

Massie broke from the majority of his party by opposing the reelection of Speaker of the House John Boehner, instead casting his vote for a fellow libertarian, Republican Justin Amash of Michigan. In May 2013, he voted against the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, which passed 390–3. In December 2013, he was the only congressman to vote against the Undetectable Firearms Act.

In March 2014, Massie voted against a bill to name Israel an American strategic partner. Massie voted no because the bill would have subsidized green energy companies in Israel. He said he would not support subsidies for American green energy companies, let alone foreign ones. The bill passed by a margin of 412–10, with 6 voting present.

In May 2014, Massie objected to a voice vote to award golf star Jack Nicklaus a gold medal recognizing his "service to the nation", and demanded a roll call vote. The vote passed easily, 371–10. Through mid-June 2014, Massie had voted "no" at least 324 times in the 113th Congress – opposing one of every three measures that came to the House floor. Politico dubbed him "Mr. No".

In 2015, Massie was the sole member of the House to vote "present" on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear agreement, citing Constitutional concerns that the treaties are not ratified by the House of Representatives and that he had no authority to vote for or against the nuclear deal. In November 2016, he voted against an extension of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the only member of the House to do so.

In February 2017, Massie introduced a one-page bill that would abolish the United States Department of Education, and cosponsored a bill that would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency.

2026 election

Massie's criticism of Trump during his second administration led him to solicit a primary challenge against Massie.

On March 11, 2026, Trump visited Verst Logistics, a contract packaging facility in Hebron, Kentucky, within Massie's district, to rally support for primary challenger Ed Gallrein. During his speech, Trump stated that Massie "has got to be voted out of office as soon as possible" and gave Gallrein his "complete and total endorsement".

The primary became the most expensive U.S. House primary in American history, with over $32 million in ad spending, beating the prior record of $25.2 million from the Democratic Primary for New York's 16th congressional district in 2024. Pro-Israel interest groups accounted for over $9 million of the spending against Massie, with him describing the primary as a "referendum on whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress". The Guardian described the election as a referendum on both Trump and Massie.

On May 19, 2026, Massie lost his renomination bid to Ed Gallrein, the Trump-endorsed candidate.

On May 25, 2026, Massie filed paperwork with the FEC for the 2028 House election. Massie clarified on X that "This allows me to raise funds to continue my political operations ... I haven't made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run." Massie has also previously expressed interest to running in the 2027 Kentucky gubernatorial election.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:

Committee on Rules

Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the House

Committee on the Judiciary

Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet

Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust (Chair)

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Subcommittee on Aviation

Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government

Caucus memberships

Second Amendment Caucus

Liberty Caucus

Political positions

Massie describes himself as a constitutional conservative and libertarian. During the 117th Congress, Massie voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 1.8% of the time according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis, tying with Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) to be the least likely member of Congress to vote with Biden on any given issue. No piece of legislation proposed by Massie has been passed by Congress.

Agriculture

In 2014, Massie introduced the Milk Freedom Act and the Interstate Milk Freedom Act, a pair of bills that would allow the transportation of raw milk across state borders.

In 2015, Massie introduced the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act to allow small meat processors and slaughterhouses to sell uninspected or locally inspected meat directly to consumers within the same state. As of August 2026, it was included in the proposed 2026 farm bill.

Massie has supported efforts to legalize industrial hemp cultivation, introducing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act in 2013 as well as hemp-related amendments in 2013, 2014, and 2015 that were approved by the House. In 2013 he testified before the Kentucky Senate regarding the issue.

Massie has stated that medical cannabis patients should be able to legally purchase firearms and that he would introduce legislation allowing them to do so. Massie has endorsed legislation in Kentucky to legalize the medical use of cannabis.

Criminal justice

Massie has criticized civil asset forfeiture laws, calling them "legal robbery" and "completely unconstitutional". In 2019, he helped introduce the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act to reform federal asset forfeiture policies.

On February 26, 2020, Massie voted against making lynching a federal hate crime.

On February 28, 2022, he was one of three representatives to vote against the similar Emmett Till Antilynching Act.

Environment

Massie does not believe in the scientific consensus on climate change. He has said, "I think the jury is still out on the contribution of our activities to the change in the earth's climate." During a 2019 House Oversight Committee hearing on the impact of climate change, Massie suggested that concerns over rising carbon dioxide levels were exaggerated.

Massie supports dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency. He voted to block the Department of Defense from spending on climate adaptation. He voted to repeal the Stream Protection Rule, which imposed stricter requirements on coal mining to prevent coal debris from getting into waterways.

In 2018, after French president Emmanuel Macron spoke to Congress and mentioned his desire that the United States rejoin the Paris Climate Accords to curb climate change, Massie said Macron was "a socialist militarist globalist science-alarmist. The dark future of the American Democratic Party."

Massie is among a handful of members of Congress who consistently vote to block disaster relief; however, he has consistently supported disaster relief for natural disasters that have struck Kentucky.

In February 2023, Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene were the only two representatives to vote against a nonpartisan resolution mourning those killed in the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, which also condemned Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad for his alleged attempts to "cynically exploit the disaster to evade international pressure and accountability".

Foreign policy

Massie has supported various efforts to scale back the use of the U.S. military abroad. He supported legislation in 2019 to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001, arguing that it is too broad and that Congress should reclaim its constitutional responsibility to declare war. He also supported efforts to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, and introduced a bill in 2019 to clarify that no authority exists for military action against Iran. Massie introduced legislation to stop unauthorized military operations in Egypt and Syria, as well as legislation blocking unauthorized military aid from being sent to Syrian rebels. Massie opposes bills that sanction foreign governments.

Massie voted "present" on the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the only member of the House to do so and the only Republican to not vote against it. Massie was the only member of the House to vote against extending sanctions on Iran in 2016. He was also one of three House members to vote against a 2017 bill to impose new sanctions on Iran, Russia, and North Korea.

He criticized the 2025 United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Massie has argued that Trump started the 2026 Iran war as a distraction from the Epstein files.

Massie joined eight Democratic representatives in 2021 in voting against $1 billion in funding for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, saying that he opposed all foreign aid out of concern about the national debt. In 2019, he was the only Republican House member to vote against condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, stating that he opposed federal efforts to condemn any type of private boycott. In November 2023, he was one of just two members of Congress to oppose a resolution affirming Israel's right to exist and equating anti-Zionism to antisemitism.

Massie has been outspoken against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its influence on American politics, and in December 2023 tweeted out a meme appearing to contrast Zionism with American patriotism. In May 2024, AIPAC and allied groups announced a $300,000 ad campaign targeting Massie for perceived "anti-Israel views" while not officially endorsing any primary challenger. In a June 2024 interview, he claimed that each Republican member of Congress besides himself has an "AIPAC person" that directs them to vote in line with the positions of the organization.

Government surveillance

Massie is a critic of the PATRIOT Act and warrantless surveillance of Americans. In 2014, he sponsored an amendment to stop warrantless "backdoor" searches of U.S. citizens' online data; it passed the House 293–123. The amendment also contained a provision prohibiting the NSA or CIA from requesting companies to install surveillance backdoors in their products.

In 2015, Massie introduced the Surveillance State Repeal Act, a bill that sought to repeal the PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act. Also in 2015, he joined with Representative Justin Amash in an effort to ensure the expiration of certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act.

Massie has called for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to be pardoned and for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to be prosecuted for lying to Congress while under oath about the phone metadata program that Snowden exposed.

In April 2026, Massie and Lauren Boebert co-introduced the Surveillance Accountability Act, which seeks to establish stricter legal thresholds for government surveillance by requiring warrants for certain searches and restricting the warrantless use of facial recognition systems and automated license plate readers.

Government transparency

In 2014, Massie joined Representatives Walter B. Jones and Stephen Lynch at a press conference to call for release of the 28 redacted pages of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2016 Massie joined both representatives in writing to Obama urging him to declassify the pages.

In 2015, Massie introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act to "require the Comptroller General to conduct a full examination of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks." Said Massie: "It is time to force the Federal Reserve to operate by the same standards of transparency and accountability to the taxpayers that we should demand of all government agencies."

In September 2025, Massie filed a discharge petition with the hope of forcing a vote on releasing the Epstein files. The discharge successfully passed, leading to the creation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It passed almost unanimously, with the exception of one member of the house, Republican Clay Higgins.

Gun rights

Massie has introduced and supported legislation that eliminates certain gun control measures. In 2022, he introduced H.R. 7415, the "Safe Students Act", which would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (GFSZA), effectively repealing the federal ban on guns in school zones and allowing state and local governments and school boards to set their own firearms policies.

Massie has also criticized President Joe Biden's plans to regulate privately made firearms by reclassifying gun kits as firearms under the Gun Control Act and requiring manufacturers to be licensed and inscribe serial numbers on gun kits.

Healthcare

Massie supports repealing the Affordable Care Act and has criticized Republicans' failed efforts to repeal the act.

Massie opposes compulsory vaccination. Massie released a statement in 2013 in which he called Roe v. Wade "one of the greatest judicial travesties of our time", then went on to say he believes life begins at conception. Massie voted against the Women's Health Protection Act of 2022.

Immigration

Massie co-sponsored the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act S.386/H.R.1044 which eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas, increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% to 15%, and removes a percentage based offset that increases backlogs for visas for individuals from larger countries. Massie voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 which authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020. In 2019, Massie voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158) which effectively prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs). In 2026, Massie co-sponsored a bill to deny citizenship to children born from undocumented immigrants.

National debt

Massie cites the U.S. national debt as one of his primary concerns as a legislator. In 2025, he opposed the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" Act labeling the bill a "debt bomb ticking" since it would increase the debt limit by $4 trillion. In 2023, Massie created the Debt Badge, a wearable device that provides an electronic real-time display of the U.S. national debt. He wears at all times when he is in Washington D.C., only removing it to sleep. He states he wears it to "put the debt in the face of (his) colleagues every day" and induce "some anxiety or urgency".

Other

In October 2019, Massie criticized the jail sentence for Maria Butina, a Russian citizen who pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a foreign agent in the United States. Butina had sought to infiltrate the National Rifle Association of America in order to influence a more favorable U.S. foreign policy towards Russia. Massie described her jail sentence as motivated by Russophobia. In August 2019, Massie said that former FBI director James Comey should be put in prison instead of Butina.

In September 2020, after Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide for his role in the Kenosha unrest shooting, Massie defended him, saying Rittenhouse showed "incredible restraint and presence and situational awareness", with Massie arguing that Rittenhouse did not fire indiscriminately into a crowd and stopped shooting when people showed "retreat or nonaggression". Rittenhouse, who shot three people, two fatally, was later acquitted of all charges.

He believes in intellectual property and thinks it is necessary for incentivizing innovation. Massie has remarked that this is one of the areas where he is not a libertarian.

He was one of seven Republicans who did not support their colleagues' efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021; these seven signed a letter that, while giving credence to unsubstantiated election fraud allegations made by President Donald Trump, said Congress did not have the authority to influence the election's outcome.

In June 2021, Massie was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Also in June 2021, he was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against legislation to establish June 19, or Juneteenth (officially named "Juneteenth National Independence Day"), as a federal holiday. He said he "fully support[ed] creating a day to celebrate the abolition of slavery" but opposed its being named "Independence Day".

Massie endorsed Florida governor Ron DeSantis for president in the 2024 election.

On May 16, 2024, Massie introduced the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act, that aims to abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve banks. H.R. 8421 would also repeal the 1913 Federal Reserve Act that created the Federal Reserve System itself.

Electoral history

Personal life

Massie married his high school sweetheart, Rhonda Howard, in 1993. They attended MIT together, where she received a degree in mechanical engineering. She died at age 51 on June 27, 2024, at home in Garrison, Kentucky; Massie confirmed a local newsperson's report on the autopsy, which determined Rhonda died of "respiratory complications of chronic autoimmune myopathy" and her death was "contributed to by multiple additional autoimmune diseases". They raised four children together. On October 19, 2025, Massie married Carolyn Moffa, a former congressional staffer for Senator Rand Paul.

Massie lives in an off-the-grid home that he built on his cattle farm in Garrison, Kentucky. He constructed the home while chronicling its progress on his blog, "Building a Timberframe Home From Scratch", using wood and stone that he gathered from the farm. The home is powered by solar panels and a salvaged Tesla Model S battery he retrofitted for his home's electrical system. As the owner of a Tesla Model S as well (becoming an early adopter in 2013), Massie has referred to himself as the "greenest member of Congress". As a member of Congress, Massie continues to invent.

On December 4, 2021, Massie drew criticism for posting on his Twitter account a family Christmas photo with an assortment of guns, several days after four teenagers had been killed in the Oxford High School shooting. Massie said he did not intend for the card to offend but went on to say: "I was like: 'Wow, the world's not gonna see this. It'd be kinda fun to just share it.' And I shared it, and I didn't just kick the hornet's nest, I agitated every hornet on the planet."Massie appeared as a contestant on two episodes of the TV show, Junkyard Wars, in 2002.

Massie is a practicing member of the United Methodist Church.