Derrick Van Orden

Deep Dive

Derrick Van Orden has represented western Wisconsin's 3rd District since January 3, 2023. He served twenty-six years in the Navy, twenty-one of them as a SEAL, and sits on the House Armed Services Committee, where he serves on the Intelligence and Special Operations and Strategic Forces subcommittees, as well as on Veterans' Affairs and Agriculture. He advanced from the Republican primary on August 11, 2026 and is running on November 3, 2026 against the Democrat Rebecca Cooke and two independent candidates, Alexander Valiensi Kent and Rustin Provance.

What he wants the United States to send is plainest in his own statements from 2024. On April 15, 2024 he said House Democrats had called for ceasing military aid, and asked the leadership of the House to recall members to Washington and “immediately pass a standalone, emergency aid package for Israel to prevent the destruction of our greatest ally in the Middle East”. Ten weeks earlier he had spoken on the House floor in support of the emergency supplemental appropriation for the government of Israel, H.R. 7217. After the Israeli prime minister addressed Congress in July 2024 he said he would “continue to push this administration to do everything they can to provide support to our strongest ally in the Middle East”.

His newest work on this question is less about how much the United States sends than about how closely the two militaries are joined. Among the wins he claimed in the defense authorization bill the House passed in December 2025 were an extension and enlargement of United States and Israel anti-tunnel cooperation, wider cooperation against unmanned aircraft, and authority for joint research and development with partners including the government of Israel on artificial intelligence, cyber, robotics and quantum technology. He had listed the same items when the committee approved that bill in July 2025. In May 2026, when Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna moved to strip from the following year's bill a section directing the Pentagon to name an official to synchronize American and Israeli defense work, Van Orden answered Massie in public, writing that “This security agreement will allow for the US to leverage advanced Israeli technologies.” In the same post he called Massie's objection an antisemitic grift.

On American money for Palestinians there is nothing. His congressional newsroom, his official issues pages and his campaign site say nothing about humanitarian funding for Gaza, about the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, or about the aid pipeline, in either direction.

He is direct about how he reads the war. In May 2024 he called the International Criminal Court's request for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders “baseless” and said the court “has no jurisdiction over Israel”. In October 2025, after the last living hostages were released, he said “I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people”. His official issues page says he is “an unwavering advocate for Israel and their right to exist”.

His statements about Iran, his work on antisemitism, and his record from the autumn of 2023, which is large, are on his research page.

The record

Supported sending weapons or funding in 6 of 6 tracked votes

House Committee on Armed Services

The money

$29K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track

In their words

AIPAC (2026 endorsement) · Republican Jewish Coalition (2026 endorsement)

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-09-18 unless the entry says otherwise. His congressional newsroom was read in full: 226 items across all 23 pages of the press release listing and 46 items across the in-the-news listing, every title checked against this subject and every match opened. His official issues pages and his campaign site were read in full. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. His recorded House votes are shown in this card's record section and are not restated here.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

• [Position, 2024-04-15] His statement after Iranian drones and missiles were launched at Israel. The in-scope sentences: “House Democrats have recently called for ceasing military aid to Israel and Chuck Schumer has called for the removal of the Israeli government.” And: “I call upon the leadership of the House to recall my colleagues to Washington, D.C. and immediately pass a standalone, emergency aid package for Israel to prevent the destruction of our greatest ally in the Middle East.” The rest of the statement is about the Iranian government, Afghanistan, the Nord Stream pipeline and Ukraine, and is not used.
• [Position, 2024-02-06] His remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 7217, emergency supplemental appropriations for the government of Israel. The release carries the remarks as delivered. That bill is one of the votes shown in this card's record section; the card characterizes it only because he spoke about it on the floor in his own words, and it narrates no roll call.
• [Position, 2024-07-24] His statement on the Israeli prime minister's address to Congress: “The United States and the rest of the free world must support our ally Israel against barbaric, terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, Ansar Allah, and other Iranian regime proxies. I unequivocally stand with Israel and the Jewish people and will continue to push this administration to do everything they can to provide support to our strongest ally in the Middle East as they fight against antisemitism and genocide and continue working to rescue our Americans being held hostage by Hamas.”
• [Position, 2025-07-15 and 2025-12-16] His own account of what he put into the FY2026 defense authorization bill, first when the Armed Services Committee approved it and then when the House passed the final bill. The committee release lists “Establishing an emerging technology cooperation program with Israel and other partner countries” and “Broadening the U.S.-Israel C-UAS cooperation to include unmanned systems in all domains and extends authority through 2028.” The December release lists “U.S.–Israel Anti-Tunnel Cooperation: Extends authority and increases funding authorization to $80M for anti-tunnel capabilities”, “U.S.–Israel Counter-UAS Cooperation: Extends and updates authority for cooperation with Israel to counter unmanned systems in all domains”, and “Emerging Tech RDT&E with Partners: Authorizes joint RDT&E with key partners (including Israel) on AI, cyber, robotics, quantum, and automation; adopts House language with clarifying amendments.” Anti-tunnel and counter-drone work are defensive systems and are kept off the fifty-word front by standing rule; they are recorded here with no prejudice.
• [Position, 2026-05-30] His post answering Rep. Thomas Massie over Section 224 of the next defense authorization bill, the provision directing the Secretary of Defense to name an executive agent to synchronize United States and Israeli defense technology work. The post reads in full: “This is the dumbest possible take on this. Another antisemitic grift from the Costa Rica Kid. This security agreement will allow for the US to leverage advanced Israeli technologies. Don’t you have some Epstein names to release Pedo Protector?” The page shows the post timed 11:35 PM on May 30, 2026. The Washington Examiner reported the exchange on June 1, 2026, naming him as a fellow member of the Armed Services Committee, and Al Jazeera reported it on May 31, 2026, which describes the post as made “on Sunday”, a day later than the post's own timestamp. Both outlets print the technology sentence identically, with a comma in place of the post's full stop because it runs into “Van Orden said”. The section itself, which Al Jazeera quotes from the bill, would require the Secretary of Defense “to designate an executive agent responsible for synchronising cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel”, covering “bilateral defence technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation”. The outlets' own arguments about what that would mean are theirs and are not used.
• [Position; the page is undated and was read 2026-09-18] His official issues page on national defense: “I am an unwavering advocate for Israel and their right to exist, and will continue to be a strong voice for them in Washington.” The page is live on his official site and is recorded on the date we read it. Its preceding sentences are about the October 7 attack and about members who refuse to condemn Hamas.
• [Undated, unverified] Our research reported that on November 14, 2023 he argued on a television program for passing emergency military aid packages, and that on April 18, 2024 he confronted colleagues on the House floor who were holding up foreign military assistance. Neither claim came with a source, and neither could be matched to anything in his own newsroom or to a report we could open. Both are set out here and nothing is built on either.
• Nothing located in which he discusses the dollar figure in the United States and Israel memorandum of understanding, or any condition on the money, and nothing in which he speaks about either of the 2026 amendments to cut that aid on which his votes are recorded.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

• Nothing located at any date. The press release listing, the in-the-news listing, the issues pages and the campaign site carry no statement about humanitarian funding for Gaza, about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, about the aid pipeline or about the American pier, in either direction. The two refugee items in his newsroom, his statement on the resettlement of refugees in Eau Claire and his bill with Rep. Tom Tiffany on state and local consent in federal refugee resettlement, are about resettlement inside the United States and name no Palestinians.

Characterization of the conflict

• [Position, 2024-05-20] His statement on the International Criminal Court's request for arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and defense minister: “Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 was a 21st-century Holocaust, and Israel has every right to defend itself from these savages. The ICC’s call for arrest warrants on Israeli officials is baseless and conflates a recognized terrorist organization with a sovereign nation protecting its people. The ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, and they should retract their request for these arrest warrants immediately. I continue to stand strongly with Israel and the Jewish people as they rightfully work to eradicate Hamas.”
• [Position, 2024-10-01] His statement on Iranian missile attacks on Israel: “I stand strong with our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel. It is time for this administration to publicly state that Israel does not only have the ‘right to exist’, they have the right to live in peace.”
• [Position, 2025-10-14] His statement after the last living hostages held by Hamas were released: “I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people. We must never forget the horrors of October 7, honor Israel’s resilience, and remain steadfast in confronting hatred and violence across our world.”
• [Position; undated page, read 2026-09-18] His national defense issues page sets out the same reading of the attack and of his duty in Congress.
• [Reaction window, 2023-10-11] Our research reported that he confronted administration officials at a classified briefing on the war. The Forbes account it cited, at https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/10/11/gop-rep-van-orden-unleashes-profanity-filled-tirade-against-biden-officials-in-israel-briefing/ , could not be opened on 2026-09-18. Not on the card summary because of its date in any event.
• [Reaction window, 2023-10-20] His opinion piece on his trip to Israel, published on his official site. Not on the card summary; recorded here with its date.
• [Reaction window, 2023-12-12 and 2023-12-21] The Jewish News Syndicate's account of a Capitol Hill solidarity event at which he spoke. Not on the card summary; recorded here with its dates.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

• [Position, 2026-05-30] The post quoted above also calls a fellow Republican's objection to the defense provision an antisemitic grift and repeats two personal insults. His words, attributed to him; no characterization of ours is added.
• [Position, 2024-07-18] Courthouse News reported that a member of the anti-war group Code Pink was involved in a physical altercation with him at a Milwaukee hotel during the Republican National Convention, that he said he was suing her for hip-checking him and described it as political violence, and that a local prosecutor dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence. The report carries no statement of his about what the United States sends, which is why nothing from it is on the card.
• [Reaction window, 2023-11-07 and 2023-11-09] The New Republic on his support for censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib and the Fox News segment his office reposted on congressional staff who walked out calling for a ceasefire. Neither is on the card summary; both are recorded here with their dates.
• [Reaction window, 2023-12-21] Our research reported a television remark of his about the House floor speech on Rep. Tlaib. Its source, https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/van-orden-campaign-joins-huckabee-to-talk-about-israel/ , refused on 2026-09-18. Not on the card summary because of its date in any event.
• No statement of his about donations from any organization on this subject was located.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

• [Position, 2024-05-10] Rep. Blake Moore's release on a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection about visa holders at campus demonstrations, which lists Van Orden among the signers. A collective document published by another member's office, and context rather than an answer about what America sends.
• [Reaction window, 2023-12-18] His opinion piece on campus antisemitism, reposted on his official site. Not on the card summary; recorded here with its date.

What the campaign site and own pages say

• [Read 2026-09-18] His campaign site and its issues page, which sets out transportation and infrastructure, the economy, integrity, health care, veterans and other headings. A search of both for israel, gaza, palestin, hamas, antisemit, jewish, foreign aid and middle east returns nothing.
• [Read 2026-09-18] His official committees page: Veterans' Affairs, where he chairs the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee; Agriculture; and Armed Services, on the Intelligence and Special Operations and Strategic Forces subcommittees.

The race

• [Read 2026-09-18] Ballotpedia's page for the 2026 election in Wisconsin's 3rd District: “Incumbent Derrick Van Orden, Rebecca Cooke, Alexander Valiensi Kent, and Rustin Provance are running in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 3, 2026.” Kent and Provance are both listed as Independent; Jayte Welch is listed as withdrawn or disqualified. Wisconsin's primary was held on August 11, 2026: Van Orden advanced from the Republican primary with 99.0 percent, and Rebecca Cooke defeated Emily Berge in the Democratic primary with 60.0 percent to 39.9. Ballotpedia prints its own caution that the candidate list may not be complete. The other candidates' records belong on their own cards.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

• The Forbes report of the October 2023 briefing, at https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/10/11/gop-rep-van-orden-unleashes-profanity-filled-tirade-against-biden-officials-in-israel-briefing/ , and the WisPolitics item at https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/van-orden-campaign-joins-huckabee-to-talk-about-israel/ . Both refused every attempt on 2026-09-18. Both concern dates that would keep them out of the card summary in any event.
• The search function on his official site, at https://vanorden.house.gov/search/node , which could not be opened on 2026-09-18. The two newsroom listings were read item by item instead.
• His accounts on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and the Newsmax and Fox News video our research named. No video was watched for this card.

Not on the card, and why

• Everything dated between October 7, 2023 and January 25, 2024: the classified briefing, the October trip to Israel and the opinion piece about it, the censure of Rep. Tlaib, the walkout by congressional staff, the December solidarity event and the campus antisemitism piece. All are on the research page with their dates. This is the largest single body of material kept off this card, and it would sharpen rather than change the picture the card gives.
• Everything he has said about Iran: the June 2025 statements on the strikes on Tehran and on Iranian nuclear facilities, the June 2025 ceasefire statement, the May 2026 television remarks and the June 2026 war powers statement. A different question from what the United States sends to the government of Israel. Where an Iran clause sits inside a sentence of his that is quoted whole, the quotation keeps its own words and nothing is built on it.
• The anti-tunnel and counter-drone cooperation he claims credit for. Defensive systems are kept off the fifty-word front by standing rule; they are on the card's deep dive and here with no prejudice.
• The campus antisemitism material and the letter about student visas: context about safety, not an answer to what America sends.
• The Milwaukee altercation of July 2024 and the insults in the May 2026 post: neither says anything about what the United States sends, and our own characterizations are not substituted for his words.
• The words of Rep. Thomas Massie, Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Blake Moore, and the arguments Al Jazeera and the Washington Examiner make in their own voices. Other people's words.
• Rebecca Cooke's, Alexander Valiensi Kent's and Rustin Provance's records. Another candidate's record belongs on that candidate's own card.
• The agriculture, veterans, transportation, health care and border material that fills most of his newsroom and all of his campaign site. Out of scope.
• The recorded votes. They are shown in this card's record section. The prose narrates no roll call; where it describes the February 2024 supplemental it does so from the floor remarks he published himself.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases and the 226 items across its 23 listing pages (opened; 2026-09-18)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/in-the-news and the 46 items across its 5 listing pages (opened; 2026-09-18)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-iran-drone-strikes-israel (opened; 2026-09-18; dated April 15, 2024 on the page)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-speaks-house-floor-support-providing-emergency-supplemental-funds (opened; 2026-09-18; dated February 6, 2024)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-iccs-illegitimate-arrest-warrant-requests-israeli (opened; 2026-09-18; dated May 20, 2024)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahus-congressional (opened; 2026-09-18; dated July 24, 2024)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-irans-missile-attacks-israel (opened; 2026-09-18; dated October 1, 2024)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-applauds-committee-passage-fy26-national-defense-authorization-act (opened; 2026-09-18; dated July 15, 2025)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-fy2026-national-defense-authorization-act (opened; 2026-09-18; dated December 16, 2025)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-applauds-president-trump-securing-release-israeli-hostages (opened; 2026-09-18; dated October 14, 2025)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-israels-strikes-tehran , https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-us-strikes-iranian-nuclear-facilities , https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-statement-israel-iran-ceasefire-agreement and https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/van-orden-warns-iranian-mullahs-window-opportunity-rapidly-closing (opened; 2026-09-18; dated June 13, June 21 and June 23, 2025 and May 26, 2026; all about Iran and out of scope)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/press-releases/opinion-my-commitment-israel-midst-congressional-chaos (opened; 2026-09-18; dated October 20, 2023)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/media/in-the-news/israel-needs-unwavering-advocate-washington and https://vanorden.house.gov/media/in-the-news/fox-news-retired-navy-seal-condemns-wholly-inappropriate-gaza-cease-fire-protest (opened; 2026-09-18; dated December 18 and November 9, 2023)
• https://vanorden.house.gov/issues/national-defense and https://vanorden.house.gov/about/committees-and-caucuses (opened; 2026-09-18)
• https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/2060867618534252740 (opened; 2026-09-18; the post is timed 11:35 PM, May 30, 2026 on the page)
• https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/4589646/kyle-massie-ro-khanna-against-ndaa-military-integration-israel/ (opened; 2026-09-18; published 2026-06-01)
• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/31/us-measure-to-deepen-israel-military-cooperation-faces-bipartisan-pushback (opened; 2026-09-18; published 2026-05-31)
• https://www.courthousenews.com/republicans-reaffirm-steadfast-commitment-to-israel-at-rnc-event/ (opened; 2026-09-18; published 2024-07-18)
• https://newrepublic.com/post/176714/republican-want-expel-rashida-tlaib and https://www.jns.org/israel-news/at-israel-solidarity-event-congressmen-voice-impassioned-support-for-war-against-hamas (opened; 2026-09-18; published 2023-11-07 and 2023-12-21)
• https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-blake-moore-joins-colleagues-in-sending-letter-to-demand-us-customs-and-border-protection-investigate-visa-fraud-by-us-colleges-and-universities (opened; 2026-09-18; dated May 10, 2024)
• https://theintercept.com/2026/06/08/us-israel-224-ai-defense-budget/ , https://theintercept.com/2026/07/22/ndaa-defense-bill-pentagon-israel-massie/ and https://responsiblestatecraft.org/massie-israel-integration/ (opened; 2026-09-18; none of the three names him, so nothing is taken from them)
• https://www.vanordenforcongress.com and https://www.vanordenforcongress.com/issues/ (opened; 2026-09-18)
• https://ballotpedia.org/Wisconsin%27s_3rd_Congressional_District_election,_2026 and https://ballotpedia.org/Derrick_Van_Orden (opened; 2026-09-18)
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/10/11/gop-rep-van-orden-unleashes-profanity-filled-tirade-against-biden-officials-in-israel-briefing/ , https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/van-orden-campaign-joins-huckabee-to-talk-about-israel/ and https://vanorden.house.gov/search/node (could not open; 2026-09-18)
• This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-18, not a claim that no other statement exists.