Most Americans are fully on board with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) slashing millions of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars from the federal government. Even when we think we have heard the most outrageous expenditure found by the DOGE team, another one comes along. Many have suggested that they look into how members of Congress have become millionaires during their time on Capitol Hill. It's a great idea, but maybe an even better idea would be to ask how those lawmakers spend your tax dollars in their official capacities. Prime example: Who paid for Democrat Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador?
A sitting Maryland Senator spent taxpayer dollars on a trip to a foreign nation over an illegal alien who was rightfully deported.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) April 16, 2025
But he didn’t say a word about women in his own state murdered by illegals.
Shameful—Democrats care more about illegals than American citizens. https://t.co/laoM6UJpX0 pic.twitter.com/GE7Vw8JMcR
As is often the case, it's the aides who know what is really going on and are willing to spill the beans. Several congressional aides and one former aide, all of whom are familiar with the ins and outs of congressional travel, say that the taxpayers footed the bill for the entire virtue-signaling show. They went on to say that the trip was likely categorized as a Congressional Member Delegation (CODEL), which refers to official visits by congressional members and their staff, and is paid for by "federal government resources." Translation: taxpayers pick up the tab.
READ MORE: Hoo Boy: Here's How That Grandstanding Trip to El Salvador Went for Chris Van Hollen
Some of the comments from those current and former aides:
“Zero doubt the Senator either paid out of the office MRA [Member’s Representational Allowance] or paid personally and will get reimbursed as an ‘official travel’ expense.”
Another stated:
“If I had to bet, this trip was funded with taxpayer dollars. Regardless, it’s insane that Democrats are more concerned about illegal immigrant gang members being sent home than their constituents’ safety."
Still another summed it up by simply saying, "Gotta be."
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday to "bring home" deported verified MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia. As my colleague Nick Arama has reported, Van Hollen claims the U.S. government "illegally abducted" Garcia, but as usual, Democrats don't let facts get in the way. Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen who was deported to... his home country of El Salvador. Van Hollen was hoping to meet with Garcia, however, the Vice President of El Salvador told Van Hollen, “he was not able to make that happen.” During a visit to the White House earlier this week, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele stated he had no intention of returning Garcia to the U.S., and said the idea was "preposterous."
Normally, for a lawmaker to go on a congressional delegation, they need to have approval from a committee chair. In this case, that would be Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID). A spokesman from Risch's office said that approval did not happen. But someone from another committee, or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), could have approved Van Hollen's fool's errand to El Salvador.
Chris Van Hollen has no problem whining and complaining about DOGE cutting waste in the federal government while he flies on the taxpayer’s dime to bring an illegal immigrant and gang member back to the U.S. https://t.co/WiCwpDjM0M
— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) April 16, 2025
Van Hollen's colleague, Sen. Ted Cruz, gave a hint as to how the trip may have come to be, saying:
“That’s one of the prerogatives of being in the Senate, is that you can travel internationally on official travel, and each senator can make a determination of where he or she wants to go. And it should be related to your responsibilities, related to your work, but particularly for someone like Van Hollen or Murphy. They both serve with me on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and so that, in and of itself, gives you a significant justification to travel abroad work-related.”
More and more Americans are becoming astonished by the fact that Democrats clearly have more concern for illegal immigrants, the people who broke into the country, than they do for actual Americans. They continue to cling to the hope that illegal immigrants will one day become loyal Democrat voters. Why else pick this as their hill to die on?
But there's more where Chris Van Hollen came from. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) have asked House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) to authorize a congressional delegation to El Salvador, which would also be on the taxpayers' dime. Here's hoping that Comer tells them to pound sand.
Chris has posted at least ten times about saving an illegal immigrant gang member.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 16, 2025
Number of times Chris has posted about Rachel Morin? Zero. https://t.co/rWJBtXDH2y pic.twitter.com/RFuuqt8eQY
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