Thomas Massie faces GOP backlash for barter offer to Mike Johnson on key vote

The House GOP’s top critic of President Donald Trump admitted in a recent interview that he once offered Republican leaders his vote in exchange for public expressions of gratitude for his role in forcing the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein files to the federal government.

It’s a move that has drawn backlash from at least one of his fellow House Republicans and others on the right.

“Anyone who uses it Victims of Epstein’s horrific sexual assault “Advancing a political agenda or seeking public recognition should seriously reconsider their line of work,” said Rep. Derek Van Orden, Republican of Wisconsin.

in Interview with Politico Earlier this week, Massie said he made the offer when the House speaker called him to get his support in the key vote.

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Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, arrives for a vote in the House of Representatives on February 3, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Deitch/Getty Images)

“One day, they needed my voice, and I offered to give them my voice then [Johnson] I will be issuing a press release thanking me for my good work on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. That’s all I asked for my vote. “I think he might have gone and given someone else a bill to pass instead of making the public statement,” Massie said.

He told Fox News Digital that it was a test of whether Johnson would take responsibility for opposing his efforts to force the vote, but he said Johnson refused.

“I wanted to see if the speaker would admit that it was a mistake to oppose the resolution [bill]“But even with all the new revelations about the corrupt and illegal activity of rich and powerful men, the speaker refused to acknowledge the success of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Massie said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

But the move also sparked negative reactions from others in the Republican social media sphere, which erupted into a civil war of sorts between Massie and Trump supporters.

“Coming soon in campaign ad: Thomas Massie asks to be publicly praised for securing his vote in Congress,” right-wing influencer Ryan Saavedra wrote on X.

“Good grief. It’s all ego driven,” Sean Davis, who founded the conservative outlet The Federalist, wrote on social media.

However, some defended him, such as an

Last year, Massie led a handful of Republicans to join the Democrats Forced consideration Epstein introduced the Transparency Act over the objections of House leadership and Trump, who argued that the legislation did not come with adequate protections for the identities of victims of sex trafficking at the hands of Epstein.

The bill was intended to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release nearly all information about the Epstein case, and Massie maintained that its language provided adequate coverage for victims of the late child sexual exploitation.

But Johnson and Trump confirmed that they support efforts to achieve government transparency, but stressed that they cannot support Massey’s bill.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Los Angeles, walks with staff and his bodyguard. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

However, it is worth noting that all House members except Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Los Angeles, ended up voting in favor of the bill.

In the view of Matthew Green, a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America, Massie’s request — and his rejection — highlights how much Johnson relies on the president for support.

Republicans currently have only one vote House majority amid the recent resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and the sudden death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., both of which occurred in January. Republicans will likely regain a seat in March when Georgia wins one Special elections To fill Green’s vacant position.

But even then, Johnson was struggling against a razor-thin margin of error to pass GOP-led priorities, a margin that Massie made ever smaller.

In this case, Green believes Massie was asking for something that would threaten one of the main things that holds the party together: support for Trump.

“What he was really asking for, in my opinion, was an explanation of how close he was Republican leadership “She is allied or should be allied with President Trump,” Green said.

“You know, just saying ‘I support the bill’ or ‘I think this bill is a good idea,’ you might think would be a relatively innocuous question, but with the Epstein files, you had the president, right up until the end, saying, ‘Don’t vote to release these,’ and the speaker agreeing.”

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A photo of President Donald Trump on February 5, 2026. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

in prior to voting Regarding the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Trump criticized these efforts, called on Massie to abandon his efforts and condemned Epstein’s “Democratic hoax” in Another to social truth.

It is the president’s opposition to Massie’s Epstein transparency campaign that makes Greene believe the Kentucky lawmaker knew his request would not be honored.

“He knew the answer was going to be no,” Green said. “If Johnson says yes, it would not only be contrary to what he said about the bill itself, but it could also upset President Trump.”

Despite the improbable nature of the request, Green believes it is noteworthy that Massey was willing to negotiate at all.

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““But what’s interesting is that it suggests he was actually willing to vote yes for something.”

Massey’s office did not address Van Orden’s statement about his voting offer.