Dan Crenshaw melts down over allegation he pushed for congressional pay raise: 'F***ing incels'

Trump allies and various other Republicans revolted after House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled his 1,547-page funding bill Tuesday evening. What was originally supposed to be a clean bill became an apparent Christmas wish-list for certain lawmakers and their friends.

Among the many additions weighing down the bill was an extension for the Global Engagement Center, a scandal-plagued multi-agency entity housed within the U.S. State Department that has been accused of working with organizations to censor conservative voices. In his critique that mentioned the GEC extension, President-elect Donald Trump suggested that the spending bill might also help hinder an investigation into the House Jan. 6 committee.

Other critics noted that the bill would give congressional lawmakers pay raises. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), who recently complained about stagnant salaries, lashed out when journalist Nick Sortor — citing unnamed sources — alleged that the Texas Republican had "spearheaded" the apparent push for higher pay.

Sortor shared a clip from Crenshaw's November video interview with the Free Press where Crenshaw suggested that populist-driven legislation prohibiting stock-trading by House members would amount to more self-flagellation making it all but impossible for anyone but the ultra-wealthy to serve in Congress.

"How about we don't make any money, either," said Crenshaw. "Just cut our paychecks. We haven't got a pay raise since 2008, even a [cost-of-living adjustment] increase."

Crenshaw is hardly the only representative critical of a lack of pay raises in recent years.

Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Austin Scott (R-Ga.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), and others have pushed for a congressional members' COLA increase. Donalds told The Hill in June, "If you don't address member salaries, what you're going to end up, frankly, is you're gonna have less diversity of various points on the economic ladder of members." Roll Call reported that Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) even suggested that blocking a pay raise might be unconstitutional.

'You're not very good at this are you?'

In terms of the controversial spending bill, the absence of language usually inserted in appropriations bills blocking a COLA increase meant that general representatives' pay could grow beyond $174,000. The Congressional Research Service recently indicated that the "maximum potential January 2025 adjustment is 3.8%, which would result in a salary of $180,600, an increase of $6,600."

Had congressional lawmakers routinely given themselves bumps since 2009 without statutory freezes, they would have been making $217,900 this year.

"Crenshaw ALMOST got his way, with a pay increase for members + benefits being included in today's massive spending boondoggle," tweeted Sortor. "THIS GUY is responsible for LOADS of the garbage we see being thrown into spending bills. All for his own benefit."

"Yeah or maybe you're a f***ing lying piece of s*** because I'm not even on the YES list for the whip team. Never have been," responded Crenshaw. "But hey, whatever gets you pathetic bottom feeders your click bait. F***ing incels."

Saagar Enjeti, co-host of "Breaking Points," joked, "Fellas: You're an incel if you think Dan Crenshaw shouldn't get a raise and have the freedom to trade defense contractor stocks."

While others similarly latched onto the involuntary celibate remark, Crenshaw got baited into a broader argument about money in politics by Phillip Buchanan, who goes by Catturd. Buchanan wrote, "Yeah get it right — Dan Crenshaw is the America-last, Ukraine-first war pig who doesn’t need a raise because of all the money he makes when he miraculously became a stock expert since joining Congress."

"Anonymous coward like 'catturd' talking s*** without any evidence," said Crenshaw. "I'm used to it. Sorry I was guy fighting the wars that little b****** like you would never dare to. One of us has actually served this country and continues to, while losers like you make money being trolls on social media. I live in Atascocita, just outside Houston. If you think I’m 'rich,' you're a f***ing idiot. The people getting rich off politics are the 'influencers' like Catturd selling their platforms to the highest bidder. Sorry to break to it yall, that's the truth."

The speculative tracker Quiver Quantitative estimated Crenshaw's trade volume at $313,000 and his net worth at around $1.45 million

Buchanan noted that he was an Army veteran who hasn't been anonymous for years and that the congressman's stock trades were public knowledge, adding, "You're not very good at this are you?"

Trump wrote in a Wednesday Truth Social post, "This is not a good time for Congress to be asking for pay increases. Hopefully, you'll be entitled to such an increase in the near future when we, 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'"

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