BURSTRep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) dubbed himself “NostraThomas" after House Republicans unveiled a highly anticipated spending bill Tuesday to avert a government shutdown.
“People call me ‘NostraThomas’ for accurately predicting @SpeakerJohnson would use the Christmas recess to force a massive spending bill through Congress,” Massie said Tuesday on social platform X. “After claiming he would not, Johnson is embracing a D.C. tradition that’s nearly as old as decorating Christmas trees.”
Massie was referring to Nostradamus, a French astrologer known for allegedly predicting the future.
In his post, the Kentucky Republican shared a video compilation of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying in September that there would be no “Christmas omnibus,” and himself over the years highlighting how often Congress comes down to the wire before the holidays to pass government funding legislation.
On Tuesday evening, congressional leaders struck a bipartisan deal to keep the government open past the Dec. 20 deadline. The legislation extends the Friday deadline to March 14, but many are not happy with the last-minute deal.
The package features a host of add-ons, including a farm bill extension, disaster relief and economic assistance for farmers.
Johnson braced lawmakers for the incoming package, particularly conservatives who have called for new spending to be offset with savings.
In the video shared by Massie, he highlights a previous interview in which he predicted the spending bill would fall just days before Congress breaks for the holidays.
“They always say, ‘if you vote for this, you can go home and open presents with your family and if you don’t vote for this, we’re going to be here over Christmas because the optics are bad,’” Massie said, adding that “nobody’s going to bring their family to D.C. over Christmas, so they’re … like the Grinch.”
“Some people call me NostraThomas for predicting this,” he continued. “We could find clips of me predicting this every year. It’s not a prediction, it’s just how the swamp works.”
Massie added that if Congress is surprised by the September fiscal spending deadline and the eventual kick to December, is like a “florist being surprised by Valentine’s Day.”
“It happens every year. Prepare for it,” he said.