Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the libertarian who has fallen out of favor with President Donald Trump and been a thorn in leadership’s side, suggested Friday that GOP leaders are the ones standing in the way of the president’s agenda.

He openly questioned the strategy of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), saying that continuing to hold so-called “pro forma” sessions to block Trump from installing recess appointments without Senate confirmation was presenting needless delays.

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“During August recess, Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune plan to call the House and Senate into session every four or five days, with practically no one there, for the sole purpose of preventing Trump from making recess appointments,” Massie posted to social media.

A spokesperson said Massie’s remarks were simply “a fact that he is bringing to people’s attention with his tweet.”

But his public heat on Johnson comes as the speaker has increasingly thrown shade at Massie for opposing Trump measures like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and siding with mostly Democrats to demand the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Jonson was forced to send lawmakers home early for August recess last week, after efforts by Massie and Democrats to force the release of the files paralyzed the House.

“If I were Speaker, I’d refuse to participate in this maneuver with the Senate to block a President of my own party from hiring his people quickly,” Massie said in an earlier post. “I understood why we did it when Biden was president. Some people (bots) get mad at me for just explaining this.”

Whether his remarks are intended to suggest there’s division between Trump and GOP leaders, Massie is the latest Republican among a handful to rehash recess appointments to fast-track nominees.

Congress is set to rely more heavily on pro forma sessions in the coming weeks during a scheduled summer recess as a routine maneuver by leadership to block the approval of presidential appointments without Senate confirmation. With more than 100 pending nominees, Massie and others like Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) have openly suggested the party embrace a maneuver it’s previously rejected.

Although it’s the Senate’s role to confirm nominees, the upper chamber would need the House’s approval to adjourn for more than three days. Recess appointments require that the Senate be adjourned for at least 10 days.

Lee estimates that at the current rate, it will take the Senate until April 2026 to confirm all current pending nominees.

TRUMP’S DEMAND FOR RECESS APPOINTMENTS FACES HEADWINDS FOLLOWING CONTROVERSIAL CABINET PICKS

Still, neither GOP-led chamber is likely to change course, as was made clear in the wake of Trump’s election victory during an intraparty rift that split Republicans. His demands for recession appointments largely fell on deaf ears with most GOP senators and Thune, who value their “advice and consent” role to the point they’re willing to forgo some of their August recess if it means whittling down the confirmation backlog.

For years under multiple administrations, Republicans and Democrats have utilized pro forma sessions to block presidents of both parties — including their own — from making recess appointments. When the Senate adjourns for periods of more than three days, a senator goes in at least every fourth day to preside over an empty chamber that conducts no business.