“Unless I Get A Lobotomy” – House Republican Refuses To Support Spending Measure

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) broke with the GOP and said he will not support the funding measure to avert a partial government shutdown.

“Unless I get a lobotomy Monday that causes me to forget what I’ve witnessed the past 12 years, I’ll be a NO on the CR this week. It amazes me that my colleagues and many of the public fall for the lie that we will fight another day,” Massie said.

The Kentucky Republican shared his prior prediction six months ago:

Unless I get a lobotomy Monday that causes me to forget what I’ve witnessed the past 12 years, I’ll be a NO on the CR this week.

It amazes me that my colleagues and many of the public fall for the lie that we will fight another day.

Check out my prediction 6 months ago: https://t.co/JA1Nyx73Dz

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 10, 2025

Massie’s remarks follow President Trump urging Republicans to vote ‘yes’ on the measure.

“The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (‘CR’)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order,” Trump said Saturday on Truth Social.

“Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen. We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right. VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.

( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Mar 08, 2025, 1:25 PM ET )

The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (“CR”)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and… pic.twitter.com/ulf2F965KK

— Donald J. Trump TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) March 8, 2025

Fox News reports:

House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., is supporting the funding measure.

“Congress must keep the government open so that DOGE can continue to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our government. This continuing resolution is necessary to advance President Trump’s agenda. I fully support it,” Harris declared in a tweet.

The Trump administration’s DOGE effort aims to uncover government waste, fraud, and abuse that can be slashed from the federal government.

“Why would I vote to continue the waste fraud and abuse DOGE has found? We were told the CR in December would get us to March when we would fight. Here we are in March, punting again! WTFO,” Massie declared in a tweet.

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“If it passes this week, the CR obligates Trump (from now until September) to spend the same amounts of money on generally the same things Biden spent money on in his last 15 months in office. We could pass recisions later to undo some things, but there’s no commitment to do so,” Massie said.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also said he would not support the CR.

“Despite @DOGE’s findings of loony left-wing USAID programs, the Republican spending bill continues to fund the very foreign aid @elonmusk proposes to cut! The bill continues spending at the inflated pandemic levels and will add $2T to the debt this year. Count me as a h*** no!” Paul wrote.

“Rand is correct. I’m a No as well on this CR,” Massie commented.

Per ABC News:

Congress has one week to pass a spending bill that would avert a government shutdown, but lawmakers from both parties are not on the same page about how they’ll move forward.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he aims to hold a vote on Tuesday in the House on a clean short-term bill that would fund the government at current levels through the end of September 2025, but the details of the proposal remain unclear.

Leaders said they are hoping to release the legislative text as soon as Friday, but that will likely slide into the weekend.

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“I believe we’ll pass it along party lines,” Johnson told reporters on Thursday. “But I think every Democrat should vote for this [continuing resolution]. It is a fundamental responsibility we have to fund the government, and a clean CR with a few minor anomalies is not something they should vote against, so we’ll see what they do.”

President Donald Trump has lobbied House Republicans to support the measure, including hard-liners who typically vote against continuing resolutions.