MADISON, Wis. — New reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel highlights yet another incident involving Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who this time was caught threatening former VA employee Tony Ruiz with a referral to Elon Musk’s ‘DOGE.’ After attacking Ruiz on LinkedIn, Van Orden took to X to accuse Ruiz of “posting political smack on the internet, possibly with a government computer or phone”, apparently unaware that Ruiz had been laid off weeks earlier.
As previously reported by USA TODAY, Ruiz was fired on February 3, just ten days before his probationary period as a Veteran Service Representative was supposed to end. A disabled US Army veteran, Ruiz was recruited to join the VA from the private sector to help veterans with their health care claims. Despite winning a $1,000 cash prize for being employee of the quarter and receiving “exceptional” performance reviews, Ruiz was fired by the VA for allegedly poor performance.
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL: Rep. Derrick Van Orden threatens to report already fired VA employee to Elon Musk’s DOGE
Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden threatened a former Veterans Affairs employee over the weekend, saying he would “be referring” him to the Department of Government Efficiency after he questioned the mass firings of federal workers.
But the man, a disabled veteran named Jesus “Tony” Ruiz, had already lost his job at the Los Angeles VA in early February.
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Ruiz said he sent Van Orden a LinkedIn message on Monday, Feb. 10, a week after he was laid off, urging him to help stop the firings.
Van Orden replied Saturday morning, seemingly unaware Ruiz was no longer working at the VA.
“I will be referring you to DOGE as it seems that at 13:46 on a Monday you should have been working for veterans, not posting trash about your boss, President Trump,” Van Orden wrote in his LinkedIn message, which was shared with the Journal Sentinel. “There needs to be accountability. Now. Have a great day.”
In his reply, Van Orden also noted that he is “a member of Congress on the VA Committee.”
Van Orden declined an interview request from the Journal Sentinel. His office instead sent a statement that mentioned backlogs at the VA currently, including in Los Angeles, adding that the backlogs show “why VA employees should be processing claims at work instead of spending time on social media.”
The statement did not acknowledge that Ruiz had already been laid off when he messaged Van Orden, or that the congressman had threatened to report him to DOGE, apparently to have him fired.
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