Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) has been barred from international travel for 90 days following an alcohol-related incident during a congressional trip to Mexico, intensifying long-running tensions inside the House Intelligence Committee.
According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Crenshaw was drinking with Mexican officials during an August delegation when one official made a crude remark that made a woman uncomfortable. Crenshaw toasted the comment, prompting concern from committee leadership, according to Punchbowl News.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford (R-AR) later urged Speaker Mike Johnson to remove Crenshaw from the panel entirely. Johnson, who holds full authority over Intelligence Committee membership, chose not to oust him. Instead, Crawford issued a travel ban he believed GOP leadership had authorized — a punishment Crenshaw viewed as disproportionate.
The three Republicans met in early September to discuss the episode and broader frustrations. During that meeting, Crenshaw offered to dissolve the cartel task force he chaired, expressing dissatisfaction with its limited mandate and resources. The task force, first created under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and restructured this year by Johnson and Crawford, was designed to target Mexican drug cartels. Crenshaw later spoke about the task force on Fox News on Oct. 25 — despite it already being disbanded.
The travel restriction comes amid additional friction between Crenshaw and Crawford over the annual intelligence authorization bill. Crawford backed a proposal to restructure federal counterintelligence operations by centralizing threat-monitoring functions. Crenshaw sided with the administration and the Senate, both of which opposed the overhaul. The provision nevertheless made it into the House bill, which passed the Intelligence Committee with bipartisan support on Sept. 10.
Aides to Crawford, Crenshaw and Johnson declined to comment. (RELATED: Ron Johnson Won’t Sue Feds Over Secret Phone-Record Seizure — For Now)
The Intelligence Committee has been politically volatile in recent years. Speaker Johnson recently removed Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) as chair and elevated Crawford. Crenshaw’s 90-day travel ban applies only to official international trips funded by taxpayers, though privately funded travel remains permitted under House ethics rules.
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