How do people get elected to Congress and end up filthy, stinking rich in such a short amount of time? We all know the answer to that question. Most of them are crooks. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) introduced the End Congressional Stock Trading Act back in March, but the leaders of the House Republicans and Democrats refuse to bring it up for a vote. As Americans are still struggling after four years of Biden-flation, let’s take a look at the lavish lifestyles that some of our dedicated public servants are living.
We’re not even going to mention Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell for this article. Instead, we’ll start with the brain trust of the Democrat Party: Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).
Little Ms. Crockett had a reported net worth of about $250,000 when she first entered Congress in 2021. Just four years later, her net worth is estimated to be somewhere around $9 million, including a $5 million real estate purchase.
How exactly did this happen? How does a person 36X their net worth in just four years? If someone handed you $1 million today, could you turn it into $36 million by the end of 2029?
Jasmine Crockett is best known for insightful quotes like, “People be textin’!” But she’s also apparently some kind of financial wizard. Maybe Warren Buffett should hire her.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) also made headlines this week. Her estimated net worth has ballooned from negative territory in 2019 to more than $30 million in 2024. All it took was serving six years in Congress and a $174,000-a-year salary!
Other members of Congress aren’t quite as brazen as that. They like to show off their “blue collar” roots by living in modest homes and dressing like slobs. Instead of accumulating vast sums of wealth through insider trading, these Representatives finance their lives of splendor with campaign donor funds.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is one example. He has an estimated net worth of around $1 million on paper. But as we reported recently, he pays $10,000 a month to a limousine service in Van Nuys, which is 350 miles away from his home district. He’s not spending his own money on that. Instead, he uses the hard-earned cash that Americans donate to his reelection campaigns.
Fang Fang’s boyfriend likes to come across as some kind of working-class tough guy who’s standing up to Trump. But when he’s back home in California, he rides around in a limo like he’s Mr. Monopoly.
Then there’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). The socialist former bartender is often hailed by the media as one of the “poorest” members of Congress. She does look poor on paper. AOC doesn’t actually have an estimated net worth. Like Swalwell, she likes to finance her true lifestyle with donor money.
Remember her big “Fighting the Oligarchy” tour from earlier this year? Those were all campaign events, paid for with the cash that hard-working Americans donated to her. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that she didn’t fly in the cheap seats for that tour.
Ocasio-Cortez stayed at the Hotel Palacio Provincial in Puerto Rico three times this year to fight the oligarchy (July 28, August 29, and September 29). Total price tag for those three nights: $11,628.57.
The Palacio Provincial is “situated within an historic early 19th century building” with “transcendent hints of the structure’s grand colonial past.”
Wait—we thought colonialism was supposed to be a bad thing?
She also dropped $3,861.20 for a one-night stay at the Hotel El Convento, another dazzling Puerto Rican hotel with “old world charm and elegance.” Her FEC filings show she paid $10,743.13 on two meals to fight the oligarchy. Who knew that food was so expensive in Puerto Rico? She also spent $23,000 on “venue rental” for two concerts with anti-ICE rapper “Bad Bunny” while she was there.
She spent lavishly in the US as well, staying at luxury hotels in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, DC, and other areas. Because nothing says “Fighting the Oligarchy” like spending $6,600 for a one-night stay at the Hotel Vermont in Burlington.
We don’t mean to just pick on the Democrats. There are plenty of Republicans in Congress who would rather we not ask questions about where their fabulous wealth comes from. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) is one example. Crenshaw has now started a very public fight with podcaster Shawn Ryan, which Crenshaw might come to regret: