Derrick Van Orden Facing “A Lot of Backlash” After Asking Veterans Affairs Secretary to “Cut the VA”

After Raw Story reporting revealed that Derrick Van Orden “called for the Trump administration to implement cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Van Orden is “receiving a lot of backlash” for his dangerous agenda that threatens Wisconsin veterans’ access to health care.

Van Orden said directly to VA Secretary Doug Collins: “So when we are going to cut the VA? And I hope you do, sir” – making it clear he can’t be trusted to protect Wisconsin veterans’ health care.

DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Derrick Van Orden yelled the quiet part out loud – he wants to cut the VA and jeopardize Wisconsin veterans’ access to quality health care.”

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2Paragraphs: GOP Congressman Slammed For Encouraging VA Secretary to Make Cuts

• During a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee meeting, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) urged President Trump’s VA Secretary Doug Collins to make cuts to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

• While making his argument for the cuts, Van Orden revealed a notepad with a line drawing illustrating the increase of “bureaucrats and veterans” and a flat line of doctors. Van Orden pointed to the line of bureaucrats and said: “When we are going to cut the VA, and I hope you do sir, this is where you need to make the cut.”

• Van Orden is receiving a lot of backlash on X for making his pronouncement with “glee.”

• Another chimed in: “It’s really going to blow his mind when he finds out ‘bureaucrats’ is just MAGA-speak for ‘assistants, administrators, IT, purchasing, HR, payroll, etc.’ You know, the ‘non-doctors’ who do the other s— so doctors can do MEDICINE. You cut them & nothing works.”

• A retired Registered Nurse who says she was fired by DOGE replied: “Cutting ‘bureaucrats’ at the VA isn’t going to magically produce Doctors & other healthcare professionals who want to work there. Given the actions since January, their jobs are much more secure in a private hospital system where being <2 years in a role isn’t grounds for firing.”

Raw Story: Outrage as MAGA Republican threatens agency long thought untouchable

• Democrats hit out at Derrick Van Orden after the Wisconsin Republican representative called for the Trump administration to implement cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

• “So when are we going to cut the VA?” Van Orden asked at a U.S. House hearing on Thursday.

• “Derrick Van Orden isn’t even trying to hide it – he wants to cut the VA,” Katie Smith, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Raw Story on Friday.

• “Van Orden’s dangerous agenda is a direct threat to Wisconsin veterans and their access to quality healthcare.”

• Representatives for Van Orden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• “So when we are going to cut the VA?” Van Orden said. “And I hope you do, sir.”

• Since President Donald Trump’s return to power in January, the administration has imposed severe cuts on federal departments.

• Particularly as implemented by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, such cuts have proved increasingly unpopular.

• DOGE is seeking around 15 percent staff cuts at the VA.

• This month, a survey by Mission Roll Call, a nonprofit, showed 44 percent of veterans describing themselves as “very concerned” and 20 percent “concerned” over such planned cuts.

• NPR reported that department data showed almost 11,300 VA employees had applied for a deferred resignation deal.

• “The top positions across all networks that are requesting deferred resignation are nurses (about 1,300), medical support assistants (about 800) and social workers (about 300),” NPR said.

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