Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) had a friendly ribbing for Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) on Friday, sharing photos of the Capitol Rotunda ceiling after Van Orden yelled at Senate pages who were resting on the rotunda floor Wednesday night.
“TGIF after a rough week, Senate Pages? I got a great photo, how about you?” Roy said on X, formerly Twitter.
Van Orden found a group of Senate pages — 16- and 17-year-olds who run messages and mail for the Senate — on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda. Pages generally rest in the rotunda when the Senate works late — as it did Wednesday night on National Defense Authorization Act Amendments.
When he saw the scene, he let loose on the teenagers, reportedly calling them “jackasses” and “little s—-.”
“Wake the f‑‑‑ up you little s‑‑‑‑. … What the f‑‑‑ are you all doing? Get the f‑‑‑ out of here. You are defiling the space you [pieces of s‑‑‑],” Van Orden said, according to the account provided by a page.
Van Orden later said he would not apologize, and that the teens were disrespecting the Capitol and its history by lying on the floor.
The incident has brought Van Orden under fire from his Senate colleagues, who defended the pages. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) addressed the incident on the Senate floor Thursday.
“I was shocked when I heard about it, and I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people,” he said.
“I can’t speak for the House of Representatives, but I do not think that one member’s disrespect is shared by this body, by [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)] and myself.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters Friday that he would talk to Van Orden about the incident.