U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, two Republican members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation, said they were not invited to the White House Congressional Picnic scheduled for June 12.
Massie announced he was excluded from the picnic in an X post June 12. He wrote it was “petty” and “shortsighted” of the White House “to exclude Republicans from the annual White House picnic while inviting (Nancy) Pelosi and every Democrat.”
“I always give away a few tickets to my staff and their kids, but apparently this year my tickets have been withheld as well,” Massie wrote hours after Paul told reporters he was not invited to the picnic. “Low class.”
In a video posted June 11 by Forbes, Paul said he did not know whether President Donald Trump or someone else from the administration chose to not invite him. He said found his exclusion to be “incredibly petty.”
“I have been, I think nothing but polite to the president,” Paul said. “I have been an intellectual opponent, a public policy opponent, and now he’s chosen to uninvite me from the picnic.”
The Courier Journal reached out to Paul’s office, but did not immediately receive a response.
Both lawmakers have been criticized by President Donald Trump in recent weeks for their opposition to the “one, big beautiful bill,” which among other things, would extend income tax cuts, reform Medicaid and allocate more funds toward Trump’s deportation plan.
In a June 4 op-ed published by The Courier Journal, Paul wrote the bill is an example of “out-of-control spending” because it would raise the debt ceiling.
“If Congress fails to address its reckless spending, it is only a matter of time before an avalanche of calamities falls, including an inevitable future tax increase,” he said.
In a social media post June 3, Trump wrote Paul “votes no on everything” and has “very little understanding” of the bill.
“The people of Kentucky can’t stand him,” Trump added in another post.
Massie has criticized the bill in multiple posts on X, writing June 10 it “does not cut enough spending to offset its tax cuts and new spending.”
In response to Massie’s criticisms, Trump called him a “grandstander” and said he “should be voted out of office.”
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Politics reporter Hannah Pinski contributed. Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as TwitterPol
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Rand Paul, Thomas Massie not invited to Trump White House picnic