Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) brought two Senate votes to CNN’s midterm postmortem Wednesday. One was on a bill restricting stock purchases by members of Congress. The other was on a bill aimed at keeping the cost of powering big AI data centers off household electric bills.
Both passed the House. Senate Democrats blocked both from advancing, though four crossed over on the data center bill. Crenshaw argued Democrats did it to deny Republicans a win before Election Day.
Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08) started counting. Republicans had the House, the Senate, and the White House. Three for three. But then the Texas Republican asked him to count votes. Both motions needed 60.
Dan Crenshaw accuses Jamie Raskin and Democrats of blocking bipartisan bills before the midterms, then betting they’ll support them once the votes are counted. “You guys blocked all of that because the midterms were coming. And I bet you’re gonna be in favor of it after the midterms.”
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 4, 2026
“Dude, do you understand how the Senate works? You need 60 votes. Do you understand that?”
The Stop Insider Trading Act, which the Trump administration backed, would have barred members from buying individual stocks. Only 13 House Democrats voted for it in July. It covered spouses, too, and came with new reporting requirements. Come September 30, the Senate needed seven votes from outside the GOP to take up the bill. Look down the roll call for a Democrat or an independent who said yes. There isn’t one. The vote was 53–47.
The voter ID language was already in the bill when it passed the House. Senate Democrats called it a “poison pill.” They also said members of Congress ought to sell the stocks they already held. I’m with them on that second point. But a senator who wanted to buy more stock the next morning could go right ahead, thanks in part to the people insisting the bill wasn’t tough enough.
The next vote was on the Ratepayer Protection Act. It gave states a framework to stick big AI data centers with their own power costs. The complaint from Senate Democrats was that states could choose whether to use it. A fair criticism, if you’re trying to get a stronger bill passed. It sounds a lot less impressive when the alternative is nothing.
The bill passed the House 417–3, then died in the Senate 57–43, three votes short of 60. Only Democrat Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined Republicans.
Crenshaw said Democrats blocked the bills to deny Republicans a win, and bet they’d back them once the midterms were over.
“You guys blocked all of that because the midterms were coming, and I bet you’re going to be in favor of it after the midterms. Do not lie and say anything different.”
From there, Raskin went after Trump’s finances, alleging he’d collected $2.2 billion in his first year from foreign governments, royalty, and crypto interests. By the time he got to Lincoln, the electric bill was a distant memory.
“He’s dragged your whole party down. Abraham Lincoln created your party. Donald Trump destroyed your party, and you went down with it.”
After the interview, Crenshaw refused to back down, posting his full take on X:
Watch Rep. Raskin unravel when I point out what the GOP should have been doing all along: telling the truth. Democrats BLOCKED bipartisan legislation on data centers (force them to pay for their own power), and BLOCKED bipartisan legislation to stop stock trading. Why? Because they wanted to RUN ON THESE ISSUES IN THE MIDTERMS. Yes, it’s a classic cynical political ploy, and the public almost always falls for it. Smart politics? Yes. Ethical governance? Hell no. Raskin even admitted that he believed good policy should take a back seat to good politics. That mentality disgusts me. Doing what’s right for the country matters more than winning elections. My insufferable democrat colleague disagrees – or maybe he understands it perfectly well and just doesn’t care. I’m not going to apologize for defending President Trump and American national security. And I’m not going to pretend that losing an election suddenly makes those policies wrong. And Republicans? Learn the right lessons. Yall f***ed up. Badly. You spent hundreds of millions of dollars on transgender ads instead of explaining why Democrats caused high prices and how Republican policies saved people money on their taxes and reduce costs in the long term. I’m defending Trump because his policies are good for the long term, not designed for short term popularity. Perfect? No. But a hell of a lot better than the alternatives. Double down on your agenda, Mr. President.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 5, 2026
“Democrats BLOCKED bipartisan legislation on data centers… and BLOCKED bipartisan legislation to stop stock trading. Why? Because they wanted to RUN ON THESE ISSUES IN THE MIDTERMS. Yes, it’s a classic cynical political ploy, and the public almost always falls for it. Smart politics? Yes. Ethical governance? Hell no.”
He also claimed Raskin “admitted that he believed good policy should take a back seat to good politics. That mentality disgusts me.”
Back in March, Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge asked the companies building these facilities to pick up the full tab for the power and infrastructure they need. That’s the question I’d want answered if a data center were going up near my house. Who pays?
Democrats won both chambers. When they take over, they can put their own bills on the floor. I’d start with the parts they said were too weak in September. Did they make lawmakers sell their stocks? Did they get households a better deal on power? If all they changed was the name at the top of the bill, they’ll have made Crenshaw’s point for him.
Editor’s Note: President Trump is leading America into the “Golden Age” as Democrats desperately try to stop it.
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