It looks like House leadership decided they had seen enough during a recent congressional trip to Mexico, and in the middle of all that chatter sits Dan Crenshaw, now facing a three month timeout from foreign travel. The whole thing has been wrapped in the usual congressional secrecy, the kind where everyone insists nothing happened while quietly imposing the kind of penalty you don’t hand out for showing up late to breakfast.
According to Punchbowl News, senior Republicans reviewed what they described as an alcohol related incident during the Mexico trip and came away concerned enough to bar him from any foreign CODELs through early next year. That is not the kind of punishment leadership throws around every day. Usually if a member acts out overseas, it gets handled with a private scolding and maybe a warning about not embarrassing the delegation. A formal travel ban is practically a neon sign blinking something went wrong. Of course, nobody is bothering to share what the incident actually was, which means everyone in Washington is left speculating while pretending they’re not.
Crenshaw and his team have stayed silent, which is probably the only option when leadership has already made its move. This hits him in a sensitive spot too. He has built much of his reputation on national security and foreign policy work. He is the kind of member who usually hops on every international trip that touches defense issues. Having that door closed for three months is not great for someone who wants to remain a major voice in the GOP’s national security conversation.
And then there is the political side. Crenshaw hasn’t exactly been making friends with the grassroots lately. He has spent weeks talking about the need for moral clarity and warning against giving platforms to extremists, pointing to Tucker Carlson hosting Nick Fuentes as an example. In the media world that might sound reasonable, but inside the party it rubbed plenty of conservatives the wrong way. Some activists were already irritated over his past hot mic comments about Carlson, and this latest round only added fuel.
Texas State Rep. Steve Toth sees the opening and has jumped in with a primary challenge for 2026, arguing that Crenshaw has abandoned conservative principles. Early polling still shows the congressman with a comfortable lead, but nobody wants a primary fight from their right flank at the same time leadership is grounding them from overseas travel. It adds up to a rough stretch for someone who, until now, carried himself like a rising figure in the party.
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