Van Orden has not demonstrated the appropriate temperament for a congressman. His anger problems have been widely reported on, tracing back to his first run for Congress when he yelled at a teenager working as a library page because he was offended by a pride month book display.
During his first term in congress, Van Orden berated a group of 16 and 17-year-old Senate pages and shouted curse words at them in the Capitol rotunda.
Most recently, he shouted at and belittled a witness testifying in Congress about food assistance programs, and posted a photo of a naked man wearing a ski mask and holding a sex toy as part of a feud with another congressman.
August 2021: Van Orden Shouted At A Teenage Girl Working As A Library Page Because He Was Upset At A Pride Month Book Display. According to the Associated Press, "A staffer at a southwestern Wisconsin library says a Republican congressional candidate threatened her over a gay pride display. Kerrigan Trautsch, a page at the Prairie du Chien Memorial Library, told the La Crosse Tribune that Derrick Van Orden came into the library on June 17 and complained loudly about a display of fiction and nonfiction books about homosexuality in the children’s section. The display was part of the library’s efforts to recognize Pride Month. Trautsch, who was 17 at the time, describes herself as an advocate for the LGBTQ community. She said Van Orden was angry, and that he said the books offended him and that taxpayers shouldn’t have to see them. […] ‘His voice was loud, he was aggressive, he had his finger jabbing into (the book) constantly,’ Trautsch said. She described the situation as ‘very uncomfortable, threatening.’ Van Orden repeatedly demanded to know who set up the display so he could ‘teach them a lesson,’ she said. She had set up the display but was too afraid of him to tell him, she said. ‘He was full on shouting at this point and he kept aggressively shoving the books around,’ she said." [Associated Press, 8/23/21]
July 2023: Van Orden Was Condemned For Berating At A Group Of Teenage Senate Pages, Screaming And Cursing At Them Inches Away From Their Faces. According to NBC News, "A freshman Republican lawmaker received bipartisan condemnation after he allegedly yelled at a group of high- school-age Senate pages for ‘defiling’ the Capitol on Wednesday. New details shared with NBC News paint an even more disturbing picture of what took place that night. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told the teenagers to ‘get the f--- out’ of the rotunda, according to one source who witnessed the interaction and spoke on condition of anonymity. The source described Van Orden's demeanor as ‘physically aggressive’ toward the pages. The lawmaker was ‘screaming inches from the pages’ faces’ and ‘shooed’ at them with his hands several times, said the source, who described previously unreported details of Van Orden’s behavior." [NBC News, 7/30/23]
April 2025: During A Congressional Hearing Van Orden Screamed At And Belittled A Professor From Northwestern Who Worked To Improve Nutrition And Health Programs Because He Disagreed With Her Testimony Claiming Work Requirements Would Harm Certain Beneficiaries Of SNAP. According to Up North News, "Making the mathematically impossible claim that $230 billion in cuts would not cut ‘a nickel’ from the benefits of citizens who were ‘lawfully’ receiving them, US Rep. Derrick Van Orden screamed at and belittled an economist who was testifying before the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. ‘You’re wrong,’ Van Orden hollered at Dr. Diane Schanzenbach, a Northwestern University professor who works to improve nutrition education and health programs—after she testified about the harm that would be done to some families if stringent work requirements were added to food assistance programs like SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, colloquially known as food stamps for low-income households." [Up North News, 4/9/25]
HEADLINE: "Derrick Van Orden Escalates Mark Pocan Feud By Posting Photo Of A Naked Man In A Ski Mask With A Sex Toy" [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/6/25]
While Making Fun Of Fellow Congressman Mark Pocan, Van Orden Posted A Photo Of A Naked Man In A Ski Mask Holding A Sex Toy. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "It was already weird. It just got weirder. It's well known that Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden and Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan do not like each other. But Van Orden took their very public feud to a new level this week when he posted a blurred photo on X of a naked man wearing a ski mask and carrying a sex toy tied to a walking stick and told his 74,000 followers that it was Pocan. (It wasn't.) The antic was a first for a sitting Wisconsin congressman. The episode began when Van Orden shared a story on X by the New York Post about a man who was wandering around a historic castle in Slovakia while wearing nothing but a balaclava and plastic clogs and carrying the sex toy. Van Orden said, ‘Looks like @MarkPocan is taking a little European VaCa after his long series of struggle sessions. Enjoy your time, Mark, wear sunscreen.’" [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/6/25]