Justin Amash is reconsidering his place in a party he is at odds with, isolated from Republicans that have largely bent to the will of the president.

The Michigan Republican is gaining a national following as a Congressman who isn’t afraid to buck the Republican line, often going to toe to toe with the party’s biggest star, President Donald Trump. Amash is a frequent critic of the president, often slamming Trump on Twitter, accusing him of violating the constitution and attacking Trump’s character.

And now Amash is leading the charge for a third-party presidential option - even going so far as saying he “can’t rule out” running for president as a Libertarian.

“I think my message does resonate with a lot of people,” said Amash, now in his fifth Congressional term. “There are people who are tired of the way it works and are coming to understand that the problem is this two-party duopoly and the partisan fighting that is nonstop. If people came to Washington with strong ideologies but less partisanship this would be a lot better.”

While Trump faces a growing crowd of Democratic presidential hopefuls, no Republican have yet to present a serious primary challenge to the president.

Amash is hesitant to throw his hat in the ring, but said “someone” needs to run for president to fix what he considers to be a broken system that values party loyalty over integrity. Amash, who hails from West Michigan’s Cascade Township, has flirted with the idea of a presidential run at libertarian events and an interview CNN’s Jake Tapper, but told MLive he hasn’t “thought through” plans to run for president, re-election or U.S. Senate.

Despite describing himself as “the only libertarian in Congress" Amash remains in the Republican Party. At times, Amash feels politically “lonely" within the GOP, and wonders whether there are other ways “to be useful and effective as an elected official besides the approach I’m currently taking."

If you think my job is to support the president one hundred percent, then you don’t understand what it means to be a representative in Congress. My job is to support the Constitution one hundred percent and to represent all the people of my district by protecting their rights. — Justin Amash (@justinamash) February 28, 2019

Much of his current approach includes standing steadfastly by his ideology. Amash made national headlines for standing against the president’s emergency declarations to secure border wall funding and banning immigration from certain majority-Muslim countries. He called Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court a “disappointing pick" and received praise for asking tough questions during former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee.

Amash always had an independent streak -- he entered Congress in 2010 during the height of the Tea Party movement -- but he used to have more backup. Amash said his anti-establishment colleagues were “seduced by power" after moving to Washington.

“It turns out a lot of them were not in favor of limiting the size of government, they were just opposed to the president at the time,” Amash said. “The Tea Party is largely gone. It was replaced with nationalism and protectionism and the general philosophy of the party now under Trump.”

Trump didn’t receive Amash’s endorsement 2016. Amash said it’s “unlikely” he will endorse Trump for 2020.

Ronna Romney McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, who headed Michigan’s Republican party during Trump’s campaign, said it is not surprising to see Amash pull away from the pack.

“He’s kind of always going on his own path,” she said "And sometimes he’s swimming in the same direction as you, and sometimes he’s not.

“And Justin was never a supporter of President Trump.”

While finding himself on the periphery of the GOP, Amash is a darling of the Libertarian Party.

Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark said people within the party are trying to convince Amash to break from the GOP and run for president in 2020.

Styling himself as the “leading advocate for government restraint in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Amash holds libertarian stances like limiting government regulation in the marketplace, reducing federal spending, legalizing marijuana, criticism of surveillance programs and pulling back military involvement in the Middle East, among other issues.

“There’s a lot of people who consider Amash to be the best congressman from the perspective of a Libertarian," Sarwark said. “They think he’s the best congressman for our goals since Ron Paul.”

Support for Amash in Michigan, now recognized as a key battleground state, could make a 2020 presidential campaign interesting. In 2018, Amash sailed to re-election for a fourth term representing Michigan’s 3rd District, winning by 11 percentage points.

While Libertarians are excited about the prospect, third-party presidential candidates still face an impossible challenge. John Hudak, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said there is virtually no momentum right now "for there to be a serious third-party option, particularly at the presidential level.”

“At any moment in our political history, you’re going to have people who are dissatisfied with the party status quo, and they can respond in a variety of ways,” Hudak said. “Trying to form a third party is always the least successful approach.”

Libertarians face uphill battle

Amash has recently become more vocal about the need level the playing field for third-party candidates.

He introduced a bill requiring states to impose the same ballot access requirements on all candidates, regardless of party nomination status or affiliation. It would also prohibit straight-ticket voting for congressional elections.

Libertarians hold no seats in Congress. The two independent U.S. Senators, Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Angus King, I-Maine, caucus with Democrats.

“We want to allow people to have choices in elections, at least most Americans want that, but the parties don’t want that," Amash said. “They want you to be stuck choosing between ‘Team Red’ or 'Team Blue’ and it makes everything much easier for them then.”

Dissatisfaction with Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton drove historic support for third-party candidates in the last presidential election. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson had the best third-party performance in a presidential election since 1996.

In Michigan, Johnson earned enough votes for the Libertarian Party to get a primary ballot in 2018. Bill Gelineau, Libertarian candidate for Michigan governor in 2018, said if Amash is considering a third-party campaign, now is “certainly the time to do it."

The number of U.S. voters registered as libertarian grew by 92 percent from 2008 to 2018. Sarwark said the pendulum will swing toward third-party candidates in the long-term.

“If you’re a Republican that doesn’t feel like doing whatever Trump is doing because of what he ate for breakfast, you have nowhere to go right now,” Sarwark said. “Democrats are having a discussion about what that party means ... Philosophically, libertarianism is on the rise, but it helps that the two old parties are busy killing themselves.”

Still, Johnson only picked up 3 percent of the national vote in 2016. Hudak said “it’s pretty hard to imagine” that Libertarians are gaining momentum.

Third-party campaigns also have a harder time competing for fundraising dollars. Gelineau and Hudak said Amash probably can’t raise the resources necessary to have a serious shot at winning the presidency.

“Any sort of upstart candidate who thinks he would defeat a sitting president in a primary and is not independently wealthy is likely fooling themselves and their supporters,” Hudak said.

Not all Libertarians are convinced Amash is the party’s future. Gelineau, who ran against Amash as a Libertarian in 2012, said "it’s virtually impossible,” for Amash to get the party’s nomination due to his stances on social issues.

Amash, an Orthodox Christian, is pro-life and supports ending federal funding for agencies that perform abortions, saying the right to life is “sacred and undeniable.” Though Libertarians are generally against federal involvement in abortion, Gelineau said the party is overwhelmingly pro-life.

GOP consolidates under Trump

Amash is chair of the House Liberty Caucus and helped found the House Freedom Caucus. Both were formed to oppose executive overreach and government spending, but Amash said “nobody cares anymore" about those issues.

The House Freedom Caucus was a thorn in the side of the Republican establishment, credited with upending the leadership of former Republican House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.

Members dramatically bucked the establishment in 2017 to temporarily block a bill to partially repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying it didn’t go far enough. In return, Trump supported primary challengers against Freedom Caucus members in 2018.

Obamacare 2.0: Bad policy meet bad Republican politics meet bad Democratic politics. The elusive lose-lose-lose. — Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 20, 2017

The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017

Members of the House Freedom Caucus have since found more in common with the president, particularly on immigration. As a result, Amash said Trump successfully “consolidated the establishment and the grassroots" segments of the Republican Party.

"If anything, the establishment is the most powerful I’ve ever seen it in D.C. at any time I’ve been involved in politics,” Amash said. “People think (Trump) is draining the swamp because of the way he talks. So he’s solved the problem for the Republican establishment. They have always had trouble with the grassroots and the tea party who have pushed back against their positions.”

With Republicans under the heel of the president, Sarwark said libertarians are hoping Amash will find more in common with their cause. Amash did endorse former Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul for president when Paul ran for the Republican nomination in 2012.

Amash said he’s not surprised by the reaction to his openness to seek the presidency.

“I think people see that I’m operating differently than other people in politics,” Amash said. “That’s just the way I’ve always been. I believe firmly in following a set of principles, following the Constitution and the rule of law.”