Wisconsin Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden is facing bipartisan condemnation after giving a group of teenage Senate pages a profane tongue-lashing late Wednesday night. The rookie congressman doesn't dispute their account, and defended his words -- which some reports suggest may have been influenced by alcohol.
Pages are 16- and 17-year-olds -- 30 per term -- who facilitate Senate functions by delivering messages, carrying legislative papers and preparing the chamber for activity. While not on Capitol duty, the pages live in the Daniel Webster Senate Page residence, which also houses the Senate Page School.
When the Senate is burning the midnight oil, pages often take breaks in the Capitol rotunda. That was the case on Wednesday, as the Senate processed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act. A Reuters correspondent says pages were lying on the floor taking photos of the rotunda.
That apparently set Van Orden off, according to a transcript the pages say they wrote in the immediate aftermath of the confrontation:
"Wake the fuck up you little shits. … What the fuck are you all doing? Get the fuck out of here. You are defiling the space you [pieces of s‑‑‑]. Who the f‑‑‑ are you?”
After a page explained their role, Van Orden is said to have replied:
"I don't give a fuck who you are, get out. You jackasses, get out."
Democrats and Republicans united in condemning Van Orden. “I was shocked when I heard about it, and I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. "I want to associate myself with the remarks of the Majority Leader," chimed in Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. "Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way."
Grateful every day to our Senate pages! These incredible young people are a vital part of our democracy. pic.twitter.com/AauQ6Le2Sg
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) July 27, 2023
"Chuck Schumer should think twice before throwing stones from glass houses,” Van Orden spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he hadn't yet had a chance to speak to Van Orden. "That's not their normal Van Orden," he told Politico.
Maybe it was an alcohol-infused Van Orden: PunchBowl News, which was first to report the incident, said Van Orden and his staff were heard loudly partying in his offices before his outraged rant. The outlet's Max Cohen tweeted at photo said to show a long row of alcohol bottles in the office that night:
Per a source, here's a photo from last night of a bunch of alcohol in Van Orden's office. Van Orden and staff were heard partying loudly before he cursed out a group of teenage Senate pages pic.twitter.com/W6KF35nfWt
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) July 27, 2023
Responding to an inquiry from The Hill, Van Orden defended his rough treatment of the high-schoolers with a questionable comparison:
“The history of the United States Capitol Rotunda, that during the Civil War it was used as a field hospital and countless Union soldiers died on that floor, and they died because they were fighting the Civil War to end slavery. And I think that place should be treated with a tremendous amount of respect for the dead. If anyone had been laying on a series of graves in Arlington National Cemetery, what do you think people would say?”
Van Orden is a first-termer and the first Republican to represent Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District in 26 years, after he beat Democrat Brad Pfaff in an open-seat contest by a margin of 51.8% to 48.1%. We'll see what this incident does for his reelection bid.
