VoteVets, a political advocacy group established in 2006 that says it is “home to Democratic veterans, military families, and their civilian supporters,” is reportedly spending $250,000 on campaign ads aimed at ousting Congressman Derrick Van Orden (R-WI). The organization is targeting Van Orden’s support for President Donald Trump’s war against Iran and its cost to veterans as both consumers and taxpayers.
It's about time someone called Republicans like Derrick Van Orden out. We won't stop until the war in Iran is over. https://t.co/GtXuV37uuP
— VoteVets (@votevets) April 1, 2026
Rep. Van Orden, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL whose 26 years of military service included combat deployments in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, had already come under pressure from both Republican and Democratic veterans for supporting mass cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs under V.A. Secretary Doug Collins.
[NOTE: Recent reporting from The New York Times revealed that V.A. “cuts include empty slots for more than 1,500 physicians and 4,900 nurses,” while Sec. Collins also opted not to “hire replacements for roughly 14,400 unfilled medical vacancies at its health care division.”]
VoteVets is attacking Van Orden, who was elected in 2022, on affordability issues — especially gas prices exacerbated by the Iran war — while slamming the Congressman’s support for another $200 billion for the Pentagon as a consequence of the Iran war.
[NOTE: Operation Epic Fury was costing the U.S. approximately $2 billion a day in its first week, according to administration estimates.]
Americans are paying for this war everyday at the gas pump. But Congressman Derrick Van Orden wants to hand Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth a $200 BILLION blank check for another forever war in the Middle East.
— VoteVets (@votevets) April 1, 2026
Say NO to war with Iran
Call Congressman Derrick Van Orden: (608)… pic.twitter.com/1TCDLtvkX0
Van Orden won his last election narrowly, beating Democrat Rebecca Cooke to win Wisconsin’s purple 3rd District. Van Orden finished with 51.4 percent of the vote; Cooke had 48.6 percent.
It isn’t only Democrats who are against more war spending, especially as Trump skirted the congressional approval process to launch the Iran campaign. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said of Trump’s efforts to secure $200 billion for Iran, in addition the appropriations in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that made the current military budget the largest in U.S. history, “I’m not for the war, and so I’m not for funding more of the war. I think we should end the war as soon as possible.”
Paul has also been against V.A. cuts where they affect frontline medical personnel and not administrative overhead. In September 2024, Paul offered an amendment that “pays for our veterans’ care by rescinding $2.9 billion in Department of Energy loan guarantees.”
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