WASHINGTON — Western Wisconsin’s representative in Congress, Derrick Van Orden, has been lying for weeks that Medicare is not in jeopardy under the Trump regime. Or, to be generous, say Democrats, Van Orden has twisted the facts. To Van Orden’s claim that Medicaid wasn’t in danger, Congressman Mark Pocan of Madison, said:
“I’ve never been so embarrassed by a political colleague. I really wanted to believe he was a liar as opposed to an incompetent. I guess maybe it’s a combination of the two.”
Van Orden is a Republican. Pocan is a Democrat. On a related issue Van Orden has been saying he “helped support” funding for rural hospitals whose future is in jeopardy with the Trump cuts. To that claim, Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, says balderdash. Evers responded being dumbfounded at Van Orden’s claim to having advocated fo rural hospital funding.
“You never personally advocated increasing the hospital assessment until it was already in the deal.”
Van Orden is two-term congressman who’s known for erratic behavior, has been targeted by Democrats as a top priority to flip in the 2026 election. Democrats have bristled at his claims as early as February that Democrats were lying that Medicare had been cut. He told voters not to worry. Look at the facts, he said: Medicaid was still operating. Literally that was true, but the issue was the dramatic slashes being proposed by Trump for the 2016 budget. His was an amateurish attempt to quiet public concern about Trump’s plan to scrap Medicaid in the 2026 budget.
Safe places. Van Orden has acknowledged political vulnerability in townhalls and public forums. He doesn’t do them. Instead he limits public appearances to safe photo opps like congratulating students on their artwork. His misleading claims about Medicaid included contextually favorable settings like factories albeit conveniently vacant. Just him and the camera.
Fact check
The Trump budget, as approved narrowly by Congress two weeks ago, eventually disqualifies 11.8 million people nationwide from Medicaid, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The Office has noted that rural hospitals are financially vulnerable because they serve a higher proportion of Medicaid patients.
Verbatim
Donna Freidsam, a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher, says the safety net that’s disappearing under the Trump bill is “really quite dramatic,” She sees healthcare as Trump’s vehicle to offset revenue that will be lost with the tax cuts for already wealthy people. These cuts, she said, will be made by slashing healthcare for ordinary and impoverished people: “What this turns out to be is a healthcare system overhaul inside of this tax and spending bill.”