Texas Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett used her time during a chaotic House Oversight subcommittee hearing on Wednesday to confront what she called “rage-baiting” attacks against transgender Americans — and to spotlight the real-life consequences of Republican policies under President Donald Trump.
With GOP lawmakers laser-focused on restricting trans athletes from competing in women’s sports in a committee ostensibly concerned with government spending and fraud, Crockett flipped the script. She ran through a rapid-fire round of what she called “Trump or trans,” a segment meant to expose how the Republicans are vilifying trans people while the Trump administration actively harms all Americans.
“Gutted medical research?” “Trump,” answered National Women’s Law Center President Fatima Goss Graves.
“Driving us into a recession?” “Trump.”
“Increasing the cost of everything?” “Trump.”
“Encouraging an environment of hate and divisiveness?” “Trump.”
The list went on.
Crockett also laid out the stakes for families in Republican districts. She cited data showing that more than 600,000 children in committee members’ home states could lose Medicaid under Trump’s proposed budget cuts. That includes 88,000 in Georgia, 368,000 in Missouri, 779,000 in Tennessee, 286,000 in South Carolina, and more than 485,000 in Texas. “These kids are relying on us to do right by them,” she said. “Instead, we’re playing these crazy games because we’re worried about 10 trans folk in college sports.” According to the NCAA, of the more than 500,000 student athletes playing sports, fewer than 10 are transgender.
She didn’t stop there.
Crockett also raised concerns about what she called a failure of the committee to conduct actual oversight, pointing instead to potential financial misconduct by its members. “We could investigate whether the White House and the members of this subcommittee engaged in insider trading and market manipulation,” she said. She specifically referenced reports that committee chairwoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia recently bought hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks just before Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs — a move that caused the stock market to swing sharply and appeared to benefit those who traded ahead of the announcement.
Her remarks led Greene’s ally, South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, to call for the words to be struck from the record, accusing Crockett of implying criminal conduct. The committee briefly recessed to review the transcript. Greene ultimately dropped the motion, saying Crockett’s words were “borderline.”
“Don’t let these hearings distract you from their destruction,” Crockett told the room. “This is rage-baiting instead of conducting oversight over the issues Americans actually care about.”