Thomas Massie is still in Congress, but only until the new House is sworn in on Jan. 3. The Kentucky Republican lost his May 19 primary to Trump-endorsed former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, and Gallrein won the seat in Tuesday’s general election, WLKY reported. In the months since, what happened to Thomas Massie has mostly played out on the House floor, where he is pushing to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. On Wednesday he told CNN he plans to force a House vote next week.
From primary night to the lame duck
Massie has represented northern Kentucky since 2012. His final year in the House, as reported by the outlets linked below:
- May 19, 2026: Gallrein wins the GOP primary with 54.88% of the vote to Massie’s 45.12%, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s certification and Decision Desk HQ. ABC News called it the most expensive House primary in history, with $32.6 million spent on advertising and reservations, citing AdImpact.
- Late May: Massie says he won’t request a recount and files with the FEC for a 2028 House race so he can keep raising money, Fox News reported.
- July 15: Asked about a hypothetical special election for Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat, Massie answers “Not really,” saying he prefers the House, per WUKY.
- Mid-September: He reads a draft resolution with eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth on the House floor. Speaker Mike Johnson then canceled the rest of the pre-election session and called the effort a “stunt,” WHAS11 reported.
- Nov. 3: Gallrein defeats Democrat Melissa Strange and Libertarian Jeremy Todd. Democrats win control of both chambers nationally.
- Nov. 4: Massie tells CNN he will trigger the impeachment vote when Congress returns next week.
Why Trump wanted him out
The primary was a test of President Donald Trump’s hold on the party. Trump called Massie a “major sleazebag” and “the worst Republican congressman in history,” the BBC reported. Massie voted against Trump’s tax and spending bill over debt concerns, voted to curb strikes on suspected drug boats and the Iran war, and joined Democrats to force the release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files.
That last fight produced the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Massie introduced with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna. It passed the House 427 to 1 in November 2025 and became law the next day, Hindustan Times reported, citing the House Clerk’s record.
On primary night Trump told reporters, “He was a bad guy. He deserves to lose.” Massie told supporters, “We weren’t really running against Ed Gallrein, we weren’t running against Donald Trump. We were running for what we believe in,” according to ABC News.
His read on the midterm results
As results came in Tuesday night, Massie posted on X: “Tonight’s outcome isn’t about placing faith in Democrats or socialist principles; it’s about holding Republicans accountable for betraying their promises.” He added that all Republicans had to do was “put Americans First,” “not start another war” and “prosecute sex traffickers,” The Hill reported.
He went further with CNN on Wednesday. “You don’t screw up this badly an election with just one issue,” he said. “It was completely avoidable if they’d just broken out of the cultish following of Donald Trump.” The same day, Vice President JD Vance said “the reason we lost is the war,” according to CNN and WHAS11.
The Hegseth ultimatum
Massie’s articles accuse Hegseth of waging the Iran war in violation of the 1973 War Powers Resolution, ignoring laws meant to limit civilian casualties and suppressing free speech, among other charges, WHAS11 reported. On Wednesday night he posted, “There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns,” according to WHAS11 and the Washington Examiner.
Multiple GOP sources told CNN they expect the measure to pass. Hegseth isn’t backing down. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth “will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points,” and Trump said Wednesday that his defense secretary was “doing a very good job,” CNN reported.
How the vote would actually work
Massie plans to offer the resolution as a question of the privileges of the House, Roll Call reported. If the parliamentarian agrees it qualifies, the speaker has up to two legislative days to schedule it. The House can then vote on impeachment itself or on a motion to table it, which would kill it without a direct vote. In late October, Massie gave it “better than a 50 percent chance of passing.”
A House vote needs only a simple majority. Removal would take a two-thirds vote in the Senate. For context, here is how the only two previous House impeachments of a Cabinet member ended, per Roll Call:
| Official | Year | What happened next |
|---|---|---|
| War Secretary William Belknap | 1876 | Resigned abruptly and was acquitted by the Senate |
| Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas | 2024 | Impeached 214 to 213; the Senate dismissed the charges without a trial |
Neither case ended in a Senate conviction. If all 100 senators vote, removing Hegseth would take 67 of them, and the current Senate, where Republicans still hold the majority, sits until Jan. 3.
What comes after January
Massie hasn’t laid out a next step. “I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run,” he wrote after filing with the FEC, according to Fox News. He told the network, “I’m keeping every option open,” and on NBC’s “Meet the Press” he declined to rule a 2028 presidential bid in or out. WLKY has described the filing as an intent to run for his House seat again in 2028, while Massie’s own words leave the office open. Back in April, before the primary, he had said, “If I lose on May 19, I am not doing any more government ever,” Fox News reported.
FAQ
Who beat Thomas Massie?
Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL endorsed by Trump, won the May 19 Republican primary 57,822 votes to 47,539. Gallrein then won the general election on Nov. 3.
When does Massie leave Congress?
His term ends when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.
Will the House impeach Hegseth?
Massie says he will force a vote next week unless Hegseth resigns, and multiple GOP sources told CNN they expect it to pass. Removal would still need two-thirds of the Senate.
Is Massie running again in 2028?
He filed with the FEC for a 2028 House race but said he hasn’t decided which office to seek, if he runs.
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Updated Nov. 5, 2026