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Provocative GOP Congress Member Derrick Van Orden [1]

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Date: 2025-05-27

GOP Congress Member Derrick Van Orden–He Falsely Claims Democrats Are Lying About Donald’s Draconian Medicaid and Food Cuts in His “Big Beautiful Bill” May 27, 2025

House GOP members will say just about anything to defend their radical and draconian bill that gives tax cuts to the top 1%, the one they passed in the early morning hours on May 22, 2025. Here’s what “Team Red” Rep. Derrick Van Orden had to say about this matter. In Van Orden’s words, according to the Huffington Post, Republicans were not actually cutting anyone’s federal health or food benefits.

Van Orden declared on a May 22, 2025 Wisconsin-based podcast on WSAU, “I want to be super clear: When these Democrats have been lying to you, saying we’re cutting Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamps program) benefits, that we’re going to cut all of these other programs –they’re lying.” Van Orden added, “We did this early enough so that folks are going to understand that we’re telling the truth. It’s fantastic. I want anybody in my district to call me if their benefits have been dropped by a nickel. Not going to happen.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/derrick-van-orden-gop-tax-bill-medicaid-cuts_n_6830b139e4b0ca4a5f567e0a

Oh really? Rep. Van Orden’s comments indicate he is living in an alternate non-reality based universe. As the Huffington Post noted, this bill which the House GOP majority passed and sent to the Senate “represents the largest upward transfer of wealth in U.S. history. It cuts $1 trillion from federal health and food programs to help pay for $4 trillion in new tax cuts to rich people. If this bill becomes law, the way the House passed it, it would kick off an estimated 8 million people from health insurance.This bill’s expanded work requirements for SNAP would result in an estimated 1.5 million families losing all food benefits and 1.2 million families losing some benefits, according to the Urban Institute public policy think tank. Those numbers would include an estimated 48,000 children who would entirely lose food assistance as well as 1.5 million children who would get fewer benefits. An estimate by the Congressional Budget Office puts the number of people losing some or all food benefits at more than three million. In Cong. Van Orden’s community, Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District (CD), about 152, 900 people or 21% of the district depend on Medicaid for health coverage, according to an analysis by KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. About 50,000 Medicaid enrollees in Van Orden’s district are children and 21, 600 are seniors. More than 20,000 are people who have disabilities. In addition, nearly 1.3 million people in Cong. Van Orden’s state are enrolled in Medicaid. This Trump supported House GOP tax cut bill also puts about 8,000 adults in Van Orden’s district at risk of losing all food assistance and 16,000 losing some food benefits, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In this group are thousands of people who live with school-aged children.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/derrick-van-orden-gop-tax-bill-medicaid-cuts_n_6830b139e4b0ca4a5f567e0a Meet Cong. Van Orden.

Second-term GOP Congress Member Derrick Francis Van Orden (55) currently represents Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District (CD). The WI 3rd is located in the southwestern and western part of that state. It follows the Mississippi River from the border with Illinois. The Badger State 3rd also borders Minnesota and Iowa. La Crosse and Eau Claire are the WI 3rd’s largest cities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin%27s_3rd_congressional_district , https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com , National Journal, 2023, p.2042

According to the Almanac of American Politics, the dairy economy has been an economic mainstay. https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com ,National Journal,2023, p. 2042

The WI 3rd was initially settled by mainly German and Scandinavian immigrants. Originally, they repeatedly voted for WI’s LaFollette Progressives. However, recently, the 3rd has become very swingy. The Badger 3rd was, as the Almanac of American Politics noted, one of the few areas in rural America where Barack Obama in 2012 matched historical Democratic percentages. However, in 2010, the 3rd went strongly for right-wing GOP Gov. Scott Walker and in 2012 voted against recalling him as well. Donald beat Hillary in 2016 by a 4.53% margin and in 2020, Trump again defeated Democrat Joe Biden by an increased 4.67% score.

The latest 2025 Cook PVI, Partisan Voting Index, gives this area a GOP R+3 score. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin%27s_3rd_congressional_district

Minnesota native Derrick Van Orden received his BS degree from Excelsior University, according to “The Hill.” https://thehill.com/people/derrick-van-orden/ . He joined the U.S. Navy in 1988 at age 18 and went on to become a Navy Seal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Van_Orden As the Almanac of American Politics stated,he served in Africa, Europe, and in Central and South America. He also saw combat in Bosnia as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also acted in the 2012 film “Act of Valor.” He additionally published “A Book of Man: A Navy SEAL’s Guide to the Lost Art of Manhood.” https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com , National Journal, 2023, p.2041

In the 2020 campaign, the Almanac stated that in a nearly complete surprise, Van Orden almost toppled longtime WI Democratic Rep. Ron Kind, in the 3rd Congressional District. The Almanac noted that this area used to be a Democratic stronghold, but was now shifting GOP. https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com , National Journal, 2023, p. 2041

After his close race in 2020, Van Orden attended the “Stop the Steal Rally” in D.C. that came just before the Trump-incited attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Van Orden, as the Almanac said, admitted that he was at the Capitol that day but stated that he never went into restricted areas and past police barricades and left once the protest became violent. However, the Almanac noted, that the “Daily Beast” reported that Van Orden did go into restricted areas and past police barricades. Van Orden told “Axios” that the “Daily Beast” report was “inaccurate.” https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com

In 2022, as the Almanac reported, Van Orden decided to run again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Van_Orden

He received Trump’s endorsement and amassed strong fundraising totals. Dem. Kind decided to retire. In Campaign 2022, the Democratic candidate emphasized Van Orden’s Jan. 6 role, but the majority of the 3rd CD’s voters ignored this matter, as the Almanac stated. Van Orden won this race by a margin of 3.7 points. In 2024, Van Orden was re-elected by 2.7 points. https://www.thealmanacofamericanpolitics ,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Van_Orden

In the House, Cong. Van Orden has shown a rather strong temper, IMHO, in several instances. According to NBC News,on the evening of July 26, 2023, Rep. Van Orden allegedly swore at congressional pages lying on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda where they were taking pictures of the interior of the Capitol dome, a traditional activity for pages in their final week of service. He told them to get off the floor. Van Orden’s behavior was condemned by GOP Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC). They called it “inexcusable and embarrassing behavior for which he should apologize.” https// www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-lawmaker-screamed-curse-words-inches-senate-pages-faces-source-say-rcna97157

During President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, the “Milwaukee Journal Sentinel” stated that Van Orden yelled “lies” after Biden criticized Trump over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.https://www. jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/07/derrick-van-orden-shouts-lies-at-biden-during-state-of-the-union-72891340007/

Cong. Van Orden, according to the NY Times, filed a resolution to impeach U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer after he blocked Elon Musk’s team from accessing sensitive U.S. Treasury Department payment systems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Van_Orden

Van Orden, the “Milwaukee Journal Sentinel” noted, confronted a teenage library Page at Prairie du Chien Memorial Library about a display of LGBTQ themes assembled for Pride Month. A staff member said that Van Orden was “shouting and shoving these books around.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Van_Orden

At an October, 2023 meeting, discussed in “Politico,” Cong. Van Orden acted belligerently toward Biden administration briefers and cursed them when he asked them questions about Israel’s Gaza War.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2023/10/11/congress/meeks-view-on-Israel-action-00121077

Again, I believe I have given you plenty of instances to demonstrate how combatively Cong. Van Orden behaves.

Cong. Van Orden, as I previously mentioned, represents a very swingy though slightly GOP-leaning district. He was narrowly re-elected, as I noted, by just 2.7 points. Although he claims that by voting for Donald’s “Big Beautiful” (NO, AWFUL) tax bill, no constituent of his will have his benefits “dropped by a nickel,” many of his constituents have not been fooled and have already been protesting to him about these awful Medicaid and food assistance cuts. https://civicmedia.us/news/2025/05/23/eau-claire-van-orden-vote-budget-bill

Protesting is just the first step. In November, 2026, Van Orden’s constituents must vote him out of office and help “Team Blue” retake the House to resist Donald.

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