Rep. Derrick Van Orden: “We do not deserve to be in the majority. Period.”

Wisconsin radio is noticing that Rep. Derrick Van Orden is sitting by while the Republican shutdown drags on and jeopardizes critical family-supporting benefits for hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites.

This morning, Wisconsin radio host Pat Kreitlow released newly uncovered audio of Van Orden from December 2024, anticipating full Republican control of Congress, claiming that if Republicans couldn’t pass a budget, they didn’t deserve to be in the majority.

In the audio, Van Orden says, “So, I’ll say that again real clear. When we have unified government, if we can’t get our 12 appropriations bills through and a budget passed, then we do not deserve to be in the majority, period.”

Kreitlow reminded listeners that in addition to Van Orden’s admission, he’s failed to stand up to the Trump administration and demand they tap into a multi-billion-dollar contingency fund to pay for critical benefits like food assistance.

“They actually want families to go hungry, to put pressure on Democrats to cave in and let Republicans jack up health insurance costs under the Affordable Care Act. And Derek Van Orden is telling you, well, once we’re in control, if we can’t get those appropriations bills passed, if we are that dysfunctional, we should not be in the majority. So that’s an interesting bit of audio, that is not the last time you’re going to hear that played. That basically is the 2026 message about how the Republicans have done in Washington so far,” said Kreitlow.

Listen to the full clip from Morning’s with Pat Krietlow.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.