Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez is facing fresh scrutiny after his congressional office published a steady stream of New Mexico district content while the vulnerable congressman was thousands of miles away on a privately sponsored backpacking trip.
According to a report from the Santa Fe New Mexican, Vasquez’s official X account posted on August 10, 2025, about a supposed visit to Hobbs High School.
“I visited Hobbs High School to help serve lunch and hear about how school meals are keeping kids healthy and focused,” the post read.
There was just one problem. Vasquez was not in Hobbs that day.
Official House travel records show that Vasquez departed El Paso at 7 a.m., flew through Denver, and arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, later that evening for a weeklong trip sponsored by the American Lands Project.
The trip, which ran from August 10 through August 16, was valued at approximately $11,535 and included transportation, lodging, meals, air-taxi flights, guided hikes, camping, and other expenses.
The official itinerary described the excursion as a “fact-finding trip” to experience the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and meet residents who rely on the land.
But while Vasquez was trekking through Alaska’s wilderness, his social media account continued portraying him as a congressman hard at work across southern New Mexico.
Photos of Vasquez at the Cavern Theatre in Carlsbad were published on August 11, while his official itinerary placed him inside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Additional posts published on August 13 and August 15 showed Vasquez meeting with an immigrant advocacy organization and visiting a Carlsbad restaurant — even though the congressman was still camping in Alaska, according to the Piñon Post.
Talk about governing by autopilot.
Vasquez’s office defended the timed posts, arguing that elected officials commonly save content and publish it later to maximize social media exposure. His spokesman also noted that the posts never explicitly used the word “today.”
The sponsor behind the Alaska excursion is also raising eyebrows.
NEW
Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez was caught pretending to be working for his district while he was on an $11,000 trip paid for by a Left-wing conservation group.
Vasquez doesn’t work for New Mexicans. pic.twitter.com/3QyLPx2z6z
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 3, 2026
More from Santa Fe New Mexican:
“Gabe Vasquez spent that week pretending to New Mexicans that he was home working for them,” Josiah Ward, a spokesperson for Greg Cunningham, who is hoping to unseat Vasquez in November, said in a statement.
“Now we know he was actually in Alaska on an all-expenses paid vacation funded by a Democratic mega-donor whose life work is shutting down oil and gas,” Ward continued. “We know who Gabe really works for, and it’s not the people of New Mexico.”
The trip was paid for by the American Lands Project, a nonprofit that says it builds connections between policymakers “and our country’s irreplaceable public lands and waters.” The board president is identified as Thomas Campion, a conservationist who has opposed President Donald Trump’s efforts to open and expand oil and gas leasing in Alaska, specifically in the wildlife refuge.
The reported value of the trip, including transportation, lodging, meal and other expenses for Vasquez, was about $11,535, according to the disclosure form, which described it as a “fact-finding trip to experience and learn firsthand about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and meet with local residents that rely on these lands.”
Since the trip, Vasquez, who has long made support for conservation and public lands a focal point of his policy views, has voted at least twice against expanding energy development efforts in Alaska, including in the wildlife refuge. He posted photos from the Alaska trip on his Instagram account last month.
EXPECTATION vs REALITY Gabe Vasquez edition:
He pretended to be in his district when he actually went fishing in Alaska. pic.twitter.com/n8w2qEIJhV
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 29, 2026
The post BUSTED: Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s Account Made It Look Like He Was Working in New Mexico — While He Was on $11,535 Alaska Backpacking Trip Sponsored by Anti-Drilling Group appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
