{"id":22965,"date":"2026-05-19T12:02:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-trump-turns-to-massie-after-cassidy-revenge\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T12:02:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:02:05","slug":"capitol-agenda-trump-turns-to-massie-after-cassidy-revenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-trump-turns-to-massie-after-cassidy-revenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: Trump turns to Massie after Cassidy revenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s grip on the Republican party will be tested again in Kentucky\u2019s primary Tuesday where he\u2019s trying to oust longtime nemesis Rep. Thomas Massie.<\/p>\n

In what\u2019s been deemed Trump\u2019s monthlong \u201crevenge tour,\u201d the president has successfully sunk the reelection campaigns of members of his own party who have refused his demands, including several Indiana state lawmakers and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.<\/p>\n

Massie would be the ultimate trophy in Trump\u2019s payback crusade. The House member has been a growing thorn in Trump\u2019s side for years, opposing the Iran war, aid to Israel and pressing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Trump endorsed Massie\u2019s opponent and former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein as both sides poured tens of millions of dollars into what has been billed the most expensive House primary in history.<\/p>\n

A Massie loss could essentially quash any internal GOP dissension as he moves into the lame-duck phase of his presidency. A win, however, could embolden Massie and other internal critics, further deepening intraparty fractures as Trump\u2019s approval ratings slumps.<\/p>\n

Although Trump got his revenge on Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican said he isn\u2019t planning on striking back<\/u><\/a> \u2014 yet.<\/p>\n

Cassidy \u2014 facing his own lame-duck future after a stunning loss Saturday \u2014 seemed to set himself up as a potential White House adversary during his concession speech, hitting Trump with veiled criticisms. The two-term senator chairs the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel and sits on the Senate Finance panel, putting him in a position of veto power over key nominees.<\/p>\n

And in interviews with reporters Monday, Cassidy declined to say how he\u2019d handle tricky upcoming votes on the Iran war or an immigration enforcement bill.<\/p>\n

Still, Cassidy batted down any suggestion he is now liberated to challenge Trump head-on, and he largely avoided addressing Trump directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I going to deliberately push back on things? No, I’m going to do what’s good for my country and my state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cassidy also made a general pitch for Washington to be more bipartisan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to give a better vision of how we should do things. Do you realize that it\u2019s hard to get anything done now?\u201d Cassidy replied when asked if he\u2019s frustrated with Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to have leadership supporting unity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 DEM CAUCUSES BLOW UP BIPARTISAN BILLS: <\/b>Key Democratic caucuses announced their opposition to two formerly \u201cbipartisan\u201d bills on Monday evening, effectively killing the prospects for SCORE Act passage this week and narrowing the path for another measure. The Congressional Black Caucus yesterday stated its members would unanimously reject<\/u><\/a> the SCORE ACT, a college athletics regulation bill. Republican leaders later Monday night<\/a> told members they\u2019d have to pull the SCORE Act from the floor schedule as support from across their own conference was also soft.<\/p>\n

\u2014 BLANCHE TESTIFIES AS \u2018SLUSH\u2019 FUND, EPSTEIN ROILS DEMS \u2014\u00a0<\/b>Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche<\/b>\u2019s testimony Tuesday could be a watershed moment for his chances of leading the agency on a more permanent basis. Blanche may use a Senate appropriations subpanel hearing to defend his more controversial moves while leading the Justice Department. The DOJ Monday unveiled<\/u><\/a> a $1.8 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d to pay claims to people Blanche called \u201cvictims of lawfare and weaponization.\u201d Democrats pounced on what they called a \u201cslush fund,\u201d arguing Trump may reward his own allies and defendants convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.<\/p>\n

Alex Gangitano, Riley Rogerson, Meredith Lee Hill and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s grip on the Republican party will be tested again in Kentucky\u2019s primary Tuesday where he\u2019s trying to oust longtime nemesis Rep. Thomas Massie. In what\u2019s been deemed Trump\u2019s monthlong \u201crevenge tour,\u201d the president has successfully sunk the reelection campaigns of members of his own party who have refused his demands, including several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}