Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) admitted on Fox News that his trip to El Salvador to try to get Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to the U.S. was funded by taxpayers even though it worked directly against stated U.S. policy.

When Shannon Bream asked Van Hollen about the trip, he said it was an “officially cleared, you know, congressional trip.”

“So taxpayer dollars?” Bream pressed.

“Yes, like every other trip,” Van Hollen answered.

"Clown show"

Independent journalist Nick Sortor blasted Van Hollen over the use of taxpayer dollars to thwart the Trump administration.

🚨 JUST IN: Senator Chris Van Hollen ADMITS taxpayers paid for his clown show in El Salvador

YOU AND I paid for a U.S. Senator to go sip margaritas with an MS-13 terrorist in El Salvador

Makes me SICK.

TAKE IT OUT OF HIS PAY! pic.twitter.com/Ymt6PNcWdI

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 20, 2025

Van Hollen defended himself by saying he was advocating for due process under the Constitution, not specifically for Abrego Garcia.

But previously, Van Hollen had mistakenly called Abrego Garcia a "citizen" (he is not) and his "constituent" (he is also not).

His staff tried to say that he "misspoke" and was referring to Abrego Garcia's wife, who is a citizen.

Cutting it off

Official congressional visits abroad are known as CODEL trips. It is unclear when the CODEL trip involving Van Hollen was authorized, but House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said there would be no such trips approved in the House.

“If you also wish to meet with [Abrego Garcia], you can spend your own money. But I will not approve a single dime of taxpayer funds for use on the excursion you have requested,” he declared.

Four Democrats in the House did go to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia, apparently spending their own money to do so.

Democrats and Republicans have been arguing for weeks about whether Abrego Garcia has been proven to be an MS-13 gang member.

Two immigration courts ruled that he was, which is what got him deported.

The media has published dozens of sympathetic stories about him and denies that he is a gang member despite identifying tattoos, his proximity to other MS-13 gang members, domestic violence complaints by his wife, and the testimony of a confidential informant that he is a member.