--- description: Crow is helping lead candidate recruitment for Democrats in the midterms, and has become a go-to voice on national security. He's also faced death threats. title: Rep. Jason Crow's Road From Paratrooper to Power Player image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0b729aaa83b3903/6a6774e9ad0518da2d613fdd/jason-crow-time-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y0.00 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Jason Crow's Road From Paratrooper to Democratic Power Player  by [Philip Elliott](/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jul 27, 2026 12:00 PM CUT  Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) speaks to the media on Sept. 26, 2024 in Washington D.C.. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) speaks to the media on Sept. 26, 2024 in Washington D.C..Jemal Countess—Redux  by [Philip Elliott](/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jul 27, 2026 12:00 PM CUT  ### The DC Brief Twice A Week Making sense of what matters most in Washington. Sign Up By signing up you are agreeing to our [Terms of Service](https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/) and [Privacy Policy](https://legal.time.com/us-privacy-policy/). The death threats arrived almost immediately. Representative Jason Crow, along with five other [Democrats](https://time.com/article/2026/06/08/exclusive-democrats-set-in-motion-plan-to-redraw-house-districts-in-as-many-as-13-states/ "undefined") in [Congress](https://time.com/tag/congress/ "undefined") with national-­security backgrounds, had recorded a video last November reminding those working in military and intelligence roles that they [did not have to follow illegal orders](https://time.com/7336802/trump-military-orders-mark-kelly-democratic-lawmakers-video/ "undefined"). A message careful to stick to the letter of the law prompted [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/07/17/trump-speech-elections-china-save-act-takeaways/ "undefined") to call for its makers to be arrested and charged with treason. “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!” read a social media [post](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2p2dz9zk2o "undefined") that Trump publicly shared. A federal grand jury in Washington [declined](https://time.com/7377620/doj-grand-jury-slotkin-goodlander-kelly-indictment-illegal-orders-trump/ "undefined") the Justice Department’s effort to indict the lawmakers. That victory hasn’t mitigated Crow’s anger at how he believes the President’s response put his family’s safety at risk. “I’m really bad at sitting in a foxhole and having people lob grenades at me,” Crow, a former paratrooper and Army Ranger, tells TIME on a June afternoon at Democratic National Committee headquarters. “I’m going to lob them back.” The fallout from the viral video placed Crow, 47, in the strongest national spotlight since 2019, when he was a House freshman tapped to be a prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial. In the interim, his stature on Capitol Hill has steadily grown, as Crow emerged as a go-to voice for his party on national security. The midterm elections could further elevate his standing, as he’s helped lead candidate recruitment for House Democrats, prioritizing veterans and others with backgrounds in national security. In Crow’s mind, these elections will show voters that Democrats have learned how to run effectively on national-­security issues, while still hammering Republicans on the twin tentpoles of cost and corruption. At the same time, Crow says his party is in need of a hard reset before 2028—though, like many, he is still workshopping ideas for what might work. “There is actually an opportunity to build something new—not rebuild, not go back, not try to reconstitute what once was, because Americans don’t want that,” he says. Should Democrats take the House this fall, Crow is in prime position to be a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee’s ­majority. Should a Democrat reclaim the White House in 2028, his name is likely to come up on the short lists for Cabinet positions. He also has his eye on Colorado’s Senate seat, and is not shy about a possible White House run down the line. First, though, Crow has to navigate this tricky political moment, one that has Democrats feeling ascendant but still staring down low approval ratings. It’s not entirely unfamiliar terrain for Crow, who rode an earlier anti-Trump wave while vowing to stand up to party leaders he viewed as failing to meet the moment. Only this time, he’s on the inside. ## Impeachment and Iran Eight years ago, Crow was one of House Democrats’ top recruits—a lawyer and veterans’ advocate who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even still, he was far from a sure thing when he challenged Representative Mike Coffman, a fixture in Colorado Republican circles since Crow was in middle school. “This was an unwinnable race, remember?” Crow recalls with a smirk. To show he wasn’t running against just Trump, but Washington writ large, Crow vowed not to vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker if Democrats won a House majority, which they did. When it came time for the vote, Crow defied the most powerful Democrat in Washington by casting his ballot for Tammy Duckworth, a fellow veteran representing Illinois in the Senate. “I explained that this was not personal. This was part of a larger effort to usher in that next generation,” Crow recalls. Ten months later, when it became clear that the Trump impeachment train was leaving the station for its first go-round, Pelosi rang up her former detractor. It was, Crow said later, “like being called into the principal’s office.” Pelosi needed someone with his skill set and temperament to convey the stakes of Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine without coming off as a partisan hack. While the House voted to impeach, the Senate declined to convict. For Crow during that period, death threats became routine. He had an armed guard outside his house. A security detail walked his kids to school. Which brings him to last year. The security had to be called back. His “illegal orders” video brought about another round of threats—including some from Trump that Crow’s office referred to the Capitol Police, according to an email obtained by TIME. Crow’s national-­security background has helped propel his reach in Congress, where he’s the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee as well as the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee’s spy panel. When House Democrats needed someone to run point on a panel investigating the failed assassination against Trump in Butler, Pa., they tapped Crow. Last week, Crow and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, forced [a House vote to halt the war in Iran](https://apnews.com/article/iran-congress-war-powers-resolution-vote-0ba2387a476fe08de0bfd6281adb9639 "undefined"), with the measure passing 214-208\. ## Recruiting "streetfighters" to Congress But it’s his work helping Democrats win back the House that may win him the most chits. As a leader in candidate recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Crow has his hands in just about every contested race in the country, and is making a point of finding people he believes voters will view as “street fighters.” “The oath of service I took doesn’t expire,” says JoAnna Mendoza, a retired Marine Corps drill sergeant and Crow recruit who is taking on Representative Juan Ciscomani, an Arizona Republican, in one of the top toss-up races in the country. Mendoza has the support of Crow and the DCCC well before her primary. It’s a different story in some House races in other states where the DCCC either professed neutrality or backed a different candidate from whomever Crow endorsed through his political action committee, Service First. Crow’s theory is that some of his preferred candidates—Marine drill sergeants, federal prosecutors—are more likely to excite those who are down on both parties. The DCCC's chair, Rep. Suzan DelBene from Washington state, is hardly trying to curb his instincts. “Jason brings a servant leadership ethos and a soldier’s discipline to the job. He knows that voters want fighters who put their local communities first, not undying loyalty to partisan ideology," she tells TIME. "His tireless work at recruiting, mentoring, and raising money to support candidates has been essential in our path back to the majority.” If his instincts prove right, Crow may bring a whole raft of newcomers to Congress who are loyal to a mentor who helped get them there. Whatever Crow’s future ambitions, a cohort of fellow street fighters might come in handy. “I have an independent streak to me,” he concedes. “But, you know, when we win, people will be pretty happy about that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/jason-crow-power-player/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/jason-crow-power-player/"},"headline":"Jason Crow's Road From Paratrooper to Democratic Power Player","datePublished":"2026-07-27T12:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-27T17:30:08.702Z","description":"When he's not facing death threats, he's helping House Democrats recruit candidates","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/jason-crow-power-player/","keywords":["Congress","democrats","elections"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0b729aaa83b3903/6a6774e9ad0518da2d613fdd/jason-crow-time-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y0.00&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0b729aaa83b3903/6a6774e9ad0518da2d613fdd/jason-crow-time-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y0.00&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"jason-crow-time-01.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/jason-crow-power-player/","name":"Jason Crow's Road From Paratrooper to Democratic Power Player"}}]}] ```