Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden: 'Too Easy' for Veterans to Commit Fraud

Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R) reprises Joe McCarthy. 
This time, Van Orden takes aim at veterans, holding papers claiming 
massive fraud in House VA Subcommittee that Van Orden chairs, 
(Forbes). The former Navy Seal now levels his guns against 
veterans in service to Trump administration, planning cuts in
veteran benefits that would cut 80,000 VA workers who serve 
veterans, (AP). Rife with abuse, easy to defraud, says Van Orden.

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR and E) Program Is Boogeyman Used to Hit Veteran
Benefits
False Accusations Provide Cover for Trump Admin to Cut Veteran Benefits

Madison, Wisconsin — Veterans are committing fraud and the VA is making it too easy, according to an old defamation against our guys.

Now, Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin), who represents a gerrymandered district in western and central Wisconsin, is bringing this slander back.

Derrick Van Orden served 26 years as a Navy SEAL Senior Chief operator with multiple combat tours before being elected to Congress. 

Rep. Van Orden chairs the House Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for Veterans. He said at the conclusion of his July hearing: "This, [VA VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment)], is a fantastic program. But it is rife for abuse. And it's too easy to defraud this program." 

Rep. Van Orden made his remarks at the House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on July 16, entitled "Path of Purpose: Restoring the VA VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment) Program to Effectively Serve Veterans."

"Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) (Formerly known as Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment) services to help with job training, education, employment accommodations, resume development, and job seeking skills coaching," reads a VA explanation of the popular program.

The new blast against veterans follows years of the Bush-Obama administrations using the offices of the Inspector General and DoJ to contrive criminal complaints against veterans for applying for disability benefits in what is supposed to be a paternalistic process, not an adversarial process. 

Congress and VA bureaucrats parading the specter of dishonest veterans appear a government disease that will never die, and charges of fraud commonly precede the McCarthyite slurs against military veterans, and dishonest work of VA Office of Inspector General.

National Associated Press writer, Allen Breed, took point on the neocon slurs against veterans some 15 years ago. See Tide of new PTSD cases raises fears of fraud (2010), for example. 

From Agent Orange, to PTSD to now trying to find a job and assimilate at home, veteran bashing is back in style.

After the AP's Breed cited benefits-hostile Dept of Veterans Affairs bureaucrat, Mark Rogers, in 2010 in his hit piece on veterans, in which Rogers said the VA benefits processes, especially PTSD, are an open invitation to fraud, veterans advocate and attorney Robert Walsh was more pissed-off than usual.

Robert Walsh of Battle Creek, Michigan, (U.S. Army, 101st Airborne Division, RVN 1971-72), said, "What about the claims of all the honest veterans that languish in the system for decades until they die? They freeze to death on the streets or blow their brains out in the garage. The veterans' benefits claims system is a national tragedy, and men like [longtime claims specialist with the Veterans Benefits Administration] Mark Rogers are the problem, not the solution for our veterans and their families."

The U.S. VA Office of Inspector General began accelerated referrals to the U.S. Dept of Justice when Vietnam veterans reached retirement age, and the VA and neocon press began its dishonest propaganda campaign against veterans to provide cover.

Van Orden's remarks against veterans this month were first reported by Forbes in late July 2025, citing almost identical language as veteran bashers regarding PTSD 25 years ago.

During the Veterans Affairs Committee hearing this month, Rep. Van Orden (R-WI) opened and closed the hearing about the VA's Veteran Readiness And Employment program with unsupported hyperbolic allegations of criminal fraud and waste.

One of the primary gripes of veterans advocates is the VA does not follow the law in administering (and adjudicating) veterans benefits, and the VA and its Congressional allies' work results in nothing less than death, with the VA Office of Inspector General ready to slur, lie and cheat in this macabre quest to stop veterans from using their benefits.

Said veterans advocate Walsh today, "Maybe VA OIG (VA Office of Inspector General) makes it 'too easy' to circumvent the law and kill innocent disabled and dislocated veterans. That's the problem."

The Forbes video footage from the House Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for veterans, on the VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment) Program, is below.