POLITICO Nightly: The Republican who's testing the limits of Trump’s complete control
By Ian Ward Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) speaks to the press outside the Capitol after the House passed legislation to fund the government through September 30. Massie was the only Republican to vote against passing the legislation. | Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images MAGA NON GRATA — Republicans today narrowly passed a continuing resolution to fund the government, averting a March 14 shutdown deadline. But the one Republican vote against the CR exposed an unexpected test of President Donald Trump’s control over his party. And this test has a name: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Massie — an idiosyncratic, libertarian-minded conservative from Northern Kentucky’s 4th District — has long been a thorn in the Trump administration side, having refused to fall in line behind Trump on several key votes during Trump’s first term. Just last month, Massie was also the only Republican to vote against the “big, beautiful” budget bill that the White House was pushing ...