Derrick Van Orden Is On a Crusade to Defund Mayo Clinic. Don’t Believe Him? Ask Him Yourself.

In his own words, Van Orden admitted that he is “saying we’re going to remove federal funding” from Mayo Clinic.

REMINDER: Mayo Clinic Health System operates 28 locations across WI-03 and supports thousands of jobs in communities across the district. Countless Wisconsinites rely on health care from the Mayo Clinic and would lose access to care should their local outpost close down if Van Orden gets his way.

DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Derrick Van Orden is on a crusade to defund Mayo Clinic and close down hospitals and health care locations that Wisconsinites rely on. Van Orden is an out-of-touch egomaniac who is so obsessed with his title of ‘Congressman,’ he can’t even pretend to care that his constituents will lose their health care or jobs if he gets his way.”

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• Rep. Derrick Van Orden has threatened to remove Mayo Clinic’s federal funding… 
• The Wisconsin congressman doubled down on his position Thursday during a phone call with a constituent from La Crosse on “The John Fredericks Show.”

• U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden threatened to strip all federal funding from Mayo Clinic based on comments from an employee and when asked about his stance, the congressman doubled down on the threat.
• …U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he would “remove every single penny of federal funding from the Mayo Clinic unless this is resolved.”
• Last week Van Orden doubled down on his calls to defund Mayo Clinic on The John Fredericks Show, when a constituent asked about threats to cut federal funding to organizations, according to Heartland Signal.
• Rep. Van Orden’s office referred to the legislation he introduced when asked if he stands by his threats to cut federal funding for Mayo Clinic.
• Mayo Clinic is headquartered in Rochester, Minnesota, and operates hospitals in La Crosse and Eau Claire and clinics across the region. 

• Representative Derrick Van Orden is threatening to pull federal funding from Mayo Clinic… Van Orden said on an X post last week  that “We’re gonna work to remove all federal funding from the entire MAYO system until this is dealt with properly.”

• A U.S. representative for Wisconsin is calling to “remove every single penny” of Mayo Clinic’s federal funding…
• Rep. Derrick Van Orden — a Republican who represents Wisconsin’s 3rd District, which borders Southeast Minnesota — reposted Starbuck’s X post, saying, “We will be working to remove every single penny of federal funding from the Mayo Clinic unless this is resolved.”
• Van Orden made a similar pledge to withhold federal funding from the City of Eau Claire…
• Van Orden spoke about Mayo Clinic again during a Thursday, Sept. 19, appearance on the Mid-Atlantic-based John Fredericks Radio Show, as first reported by Heartland Signal.
• A caller asked about Van Orden’s posts: “Isn’t that going to hurt and potentially kill a lot of people if we take away medical services from organizations that you don’t like by cutting off funding?”
• Van Orden’s district includes several Mayo Clinic Health System locations, including hospitals in La Crosse and Eau Claire.
• Mayo Clinic receives a significant amount of federal funding, namely through National Institutes of Health research grants. As of Sept. 5, the health system has 434 active awards worth around $302 million. It is the second-largest NIH funding recipient in Minnesota, after the University of Minnesota.

• During an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show” last Thursday, U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) reiterated his intent to defund Mayo Clinic and hospitals…
• During the show, a caller asked Van Orden about his X posts calling for the removal of “every single penny of federal funding from the Mayo Clinic.” 
• Mayo Clinic receives substantial federal funding in the form of grants and contracts from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other government departments. This money helps fund cancer treatment, cardiovascular disease, aging and other health care research. The network has 28 health care facilities in Van Orden’s 3rd Congressional District in Wisconsin, including in La Crosse, Eau Claire, Holmen and Sparta alongside more rural areas.
• When asked if this funding should be removed because somebody at Mayo Clinic said something that he didn’t agree with, Van Orden got defensive and doubled down on his pledge to remove all federal funding from the Mayo Clinic and falsely claimed that the organization is “inciting violence.”
• Van Orden went on to tell the caller to Google his own examples of Mayo Clinic inciting violence, and that he is “not a research assistant buddy. I’m your congressman.”
• “So saying that we’re threatening federal funding that I am and I am saying we’re going to remove federal funding from anybody who hires these people who celebrate the assassination of American citizens, because it’s actually against the law. By saying that I’m going to hurt them in the short term, it’s going to help us in the long term,” Van Orden continued.

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