As Donald Trump steamrolled his agenda through Congress this year, there was usually just one Republican dissenter, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky. A gadfly libertarian, he constantly opposed Trump on both foreign and domestic policy, and Trump openly threatened to have him primaried. On Tuesday, though, Massie got the upper hand. In a 427-1 vote, his bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein files passed the House.

It was like the world turned upside down for Republicans, with some of the most outlandish ones standing victorious while Trump was forced to retreat by his own party after so recently dominating it on Capitol Hill. For years, Trump never allowed Republicans to distance themselves from him and even celebrated the defeat of moderates in 2018 who were squishy on him. This week, facing scores of Republicans voting against him, he yielded.

Trump may not be a lame-duck president yet — he still has three years left in office, and his endorsement in a Republican primary is still considered a de facto anointment — but he........

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