U.S. Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) and Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) speak to the media after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
The internet erupted after Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) posted, and then deleted, a comment celebrating the fact that millions of children are set to lose their food assistance benefits after Republicans voted to pass President Donald Trump's budget bill on Thursday.
Van Orden retweeted a post from an account called Logical Luminary that stated, "18 million children just lost school meals," referring to a report from the Urban Institute analyzing the impact of Trump's budget. Van Orden's retweet read "YES!" before he deleted the post.
Van Orden said the post was made in error, and that he was trying to reply to a post from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. But that didn't stop people from piling on over Van Orden's mistake.
"You need to understand these people know exactly how badly they are hurting people and they love it. It’s sick," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) wrote on X.
"This isn’t leadership. It’s cruelty," Jason Rae, secretary for the Democratic National Committee, posted on X.
"Wisconsin Republican Derrick Van Orden celebrates depriving millions of Americans of health care, school meals, and food assistance, while voting to add trillions in debt to cut taxes for billionaires," Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), wrote on X.
"Republicans act like winning one election makes them untouchable, like they can gut school meals for kids and healthcare with no consequences. But voters are watching," MSNBC contributor Rotimi Adeoye posted on X.
"This is a REAL TWEET," Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) wrote on X. "Republican Congressman CELEBRATING the theft of your health care to fund billionaires’ tax cuts."