Speaker Johnson Blocks Massie's Attempt To Repeal The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act
Since ascending to the seat of Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson has had a tumultuous tenure that has raised serious questions about how committed Republican leadership is to disrupting the political establishment in Washington, DC, which it promised to vanquish. Ironically, the controversies that have marred his leadership the most have not been initiated by partisan opposition from the left. Instead, the most formidable challenges to Johnson have come from within the Republican Party itself. Representative Thomas Massie, who in stark juxtaposition has earned a reputation as one of the few members of Congress with any integrity, has proven to be Johnson's greatest adversary in that struggle. From his crusade to prevent Johnson's re-election to the seat at the head of the House of Representatives to his mission to bring transparency to the debacle over the release of the Epstein Files™, Massie's efforts have painted the Speaker in the light of someone who has used the promise of putting America first as a vehicle for political expediency rather than as a testament to his commitment to the American people.
By actually fighting against the corrupt Washington establishment, Massie's efforts have shown just how much Congress is still at odds with the American people under Johnson's leadership. The congressman's recent effort to repeal legislation that legalizes the use of state-sanctioned propaganda against the American citizens by their own government is the latest episode in the saga between Massie and Johnson. Massie's revelation that his attempt to repeal the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act was blocked by Speaker Johnson amplifies concerns about whose interests are being fought for by Congress and how committed Republican leadership is to delivering on its promises to provide the public with greater transparency and integrity of the rule of law.
The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act (part of 2013 NDAA) repealed the prohibition that kept the U.S. government from using propaganda on U.S. citizens.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 14, 2025
I voted against that NDAA.
Recently, I offered an Amendment to reinstate the prohibition, but @SpeakerJohnson blocked the vote. pic.twitter.com/WlecyVgUsP
Passed in 2012 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (FY2013 NDAA), the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act repealed a ban on the dissemination of state-sanctioned propaganda by the federal government domestically. Its passage has served as a symbol of the distrust the American people have in the federal government. As terms like "misinformation," "disinformation," "fake news," and the like have become part of the lexicon making up the modern American political discourse since its passage, the impact the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act has had on the distortion of reality that has served as the catalyst for the widening rift between Americans has come under increased focus in recent years. Like Massie, fellow critics of the law view its repeal as being necessary to realizing the increasingly dismal hope that trust between the United States government and its citizenry can be restored.
Using the same tactic that led to the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act being passed in 2012, Massie proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY2026 NDAA) that would have had the law repealed. The inclusion of the amendment in the FY2026 NDAA would have led to the return of the prohibition of propaganda being used on Americans by their own government that had been in place from 1948 until 2012, when the Smith-Mundt Act was passed. Despite leveraging that tactic, Speaker Johnson was able to outmaneuver Massie by exercising his authority over the House Rules Committee in order to prevent the proposed amendment from being voted on.
Under House Rule XIII, the House Rules Committee retains the authority to dictate the terms of how bills like the FY2026 NDAA are brought for consideration to the House floor. Under Clause 6 of House Rule XIII, the committee is able to determine which proposed amendments are eligible to be voted on by the House. By imposing his influence on the House Rules Committee, Speaker Johnson was able to keep Massie's proposed amendment to the FY2026 NDAA repealing the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act from being brought to the House floor for a vote. Despite moving to exclude Massie's amendment from a vote on whether to be included in the proposed legislation, the committee approved 298 other amendments that were submitted to it.
The FY2026 NDAA was subsequently voted on and passed by a vote of 231-196 on September 10th. Massie, along with representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tim Burchett, and Anna Paulina Luna, were the 4 lone Republicans to vote against the bill. The legislation passed the House largely along party lines, with the other 192 votes against it being made by Democratic representatives. Only 17 Democrats voted in favor of the FY2026 NDAA compared to 214 Republicans. Among the 4 Republicans voting against the bill, Massie was the only one in congressional office in 2012 when the FY2013 NDAA, including the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, was passed. Massie voted against the FY2013 NDAA as well.
Massie's revelation that Speaker Johnson blocked his attempt to have the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act repealed doesn't just demonstrate how Republican leadership is at odds with the small contingent of its party that has actually honored its oath to uphold the constitution. It also reflects how firmly that leadership still holds on to a framework for governance constructed by the political establishment it pledged to destroy. In doing so, it has revealed yet again that it too is at odds with the American people by taking a position in diametric opposition to the populist platform it was elected on. While the calculus of Speaker Johnson intended to undermine the political momentum of a genuine populist in Thomas Massie, it was only able to achieve that aim by eroding what little of his own credibility still remains.