Congressman Has No Apologies After Berating Teenage Senate Pages

WASHINGTON—A first-term Republican congressman lashed out at a group of teenage Senate pages and later declined to apologize, drawing a rebuke from the leaders of the Senate.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis.) used expletives to reprimand pages who were lying on the floor to take photos of the domed Capitol Rotunda around midnight late Wednesday. The Rotunda, lined with paintings of historic moments in American history, lies at the center of the Capitol complex and is a common destination for tour groups.

Following a report on the incident by newsletter Punchbowl News, Van Orden, 53 years old, issued a statement Thursday in which he defended his actions. The lawmaker, a retired Navy SEAL, argued that the pages were being disrespectful to a Capitol site that was once a field hospital for Civil War soldiers. 

“Luckily, bad press has never bothered me and if it’s the price I pay to stand up for what’s right, then so be it,” he said.

In comments to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he elaborated: “I would think that I’d be terribly disrespectful to lay on the grave of a soldier that died fighting for freedom.”

The lack of contrition drew a rebuke from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) as he thanked the pages for their service, ahead of the final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, the last major vote before the long August recess. His office said he had been made aware of the incident.

“I understand that late last night a member of the House majority thought it appropriate to curse at some of these young people…. I was shocked when I heard about it. I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. He later told reporters: “What that congressman did last night at midnight was just utterly despicable.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who spoke after Schumer on the floor, said of the pages: “I want to associate myself with the remarks of the majority leader. Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way.” 

House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said he had spoken with Schumer and planned to call Van Orden later Friday about the incident, saying it was likely “a misunderstanding.” He said the incident was “not the norm of Derrick Van Orden.” 

The Senate page program hosts a group of several dozen high-schoolers nominated by their home-state senators to serve in Washington. Each Senate session, pages are charged with delivering messages around the Capitol or manning the doors of the Senate chamber. 

Van Orden’s actions could resonate back in his home district. Democrat Rebecca Cooke, who is running for the seat, issued a statement saying that Van Orden “is an embarrassment who clearly lacks the temperament to represent Wisconsin.” 

She contrasted Van Orden’s comments about respecting the Capitol site with his previous attendance at protests on Jan. 6, 2021. After losing his 2020 run for Congress, Van Orden attended then-President Donald Trump’s rally at the Ellipse and then walked toward the Capitol, but he said he never joined the mob that entered the building that day and has condemned political violence. Van Orden won his seat in 2022 by about 4 percentage points.

Write to Simon J. Levien at [email protected]