Oct. 26, 2025
VIROQUA, Wis. — As Congress entered its third week of inaction during a government shutdown, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth) criticized lawmakers for failing to address key legislation and warned of significant financial impacts for Wisconsin residents. Pocan made a stop in Viroqua on Oct. 7 specifically to hold a listening session in Congressman Derrick Van Orden’s district because he said Van Orden “has never done an open public town hall.”
“I’m doing four of them in one day in his district today,” said Pocan. “So hopefully he’ll see it’s really not that difficult to do this to connect to folks.”
“This is how democracy is supposed to happen,” Pocan said. “I was supposed to be in Washington, so when I found out Saturday that I was gonna not be in Washington, I decided to take it on the road to Derrick’s district because he’s never come to listen to you all.”
Congressman Pocan explained that Congress had reached bipartisan agreements to fund the government and avoid a shutdown, but both deals ultimately fell apart. The first deal was negotiated in December, with bipartisan support for funding through September 30. However, Pocan said, “Elon Musk did one tweet and they backed out of the negotiated deal.”
The second extension happened in March, mainly due to pressure from the Senate, but that deal was also undermined. Pocan noted, “The president started doing what’s called rescission of funds. Congress has the power of the purse. Article one of the Constitution gives that power to Congress. And even though we had a bipartisan deal, the president kept stealing funds and Congress didn’t stand up to him to stop doing that.”
Pocan emphasized that these broken agreements led to the current situation, saying, “So we had a broken deal in December, a breaking of the deal in May, and now they want us to solidify all that broken deal into what they were calling a continuing resolution. So this is not a normal continuing resolution.”
In summary, Pocan argued that the failure of these deals was due to outside influence, lack of congressional resolve, and executive actions that undermined the negotiated agreements, resulting in ongoing instability and the current shutdown.
Pocan said Congress should be working on overdue measures such as the farm bill, National Defense Authorization, and reauthorizations for insurance and the Older Americans Act.
“We haven’t passed a farm bill. It was supposed to be done in 2023, so we’re two years behind,” Pocan said. “At the end of the year, if we don’t act, there’s a provision that changes how we price milk. That will have a negative effect on farmers, dairy farmers in Wisconsin.” He also noted that the Congressional Stock Trading Ban and the release of the Epstein files remain stalled due to congressional inaction.
The shutdown and recent legislation are causing the loss of critical benefits, Pocan said, with an estimated 270,000 Wisconsinites and 15 million people nationwide at risk of losing health care coverage.
“Wisconsin’s Department of Human Services thinks 270,000 Wisconsinites lose their care,” said Pocan. “15 million people nationally.”
He added that 22 million people on the Affordable Care Act could see premium increases, with 4 million at risk of losing coverage entirely.
“If you’re a 60-year-old Wisconsin couple making $85,000 on the Affordable Care Act, you could see a $22,000 plus increase in your premiums next year,” Pocan said, citing a Kaiser Foundation estimate.
Pocan warned that cuts to Medicare and Medicaid would have a ripple effect, increasing costs for everyone and threatening rural hospitals.
“There was a half a trillion dollar cut triggered to Medicare,” said Pocan. “Last time I looked, we’re all gonna experience Medicare. But half a trillion dollars was cut,” he said. “Rural hospitals are really going to get hit hard. It’s estimated that up to one out of four nursing homes could close as well, because of this.”
Pocan sharply criticized Van Orden for his handling of the crisis and for spreading what he called misinformation.
“I genuinely want to give Derrick some credit,” Pocan said. “I don’t think he’s doing it to be lying. I think he’s doing it ‘cause he’s simply stupid,” referencing Van Orden’s claims about rural hospital funding.
Pocan said that Van Orden supported legislation that would only cover a fraction of the losses rural hospitals face due to Trumps tax cuts.
“That law is gonna cost rural hospitals estimated $443 billion,” said Pocan. “So that’s gonna cover about one outta every $9 that they’re gonna lose.”
Pocan said the other piece of misinformation that is getting a lot of attention is the claim that those who are undocumented are getting free healthcare.
”There’s a couple things that you’ll hear Derrick Van Orden and other Republicans say,” said Pocan. “That they’re gonna try to claim right now. That Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government because they want to give hundreds of billions of dollars to healthcare benefits to illegal aliens around here. I think we call that manure, right? Well, so did PolitiFact. The group that judges’ statements said, they give it an outright false. And why did it get an outright false? Well, because, and I serve on the appropriations Committee. This is my area of expertise and by federal law no person who’s undocumented … can get funds directly for Medicaid, Medicare, or the Affordable Care Act.”
Pocan also criticized the broader economic impact of tariffs and recent policy changes, warning that costs for housing, groceries, and energy are rising.
“We’re paying more for groceries, largely because of tariffs,” said Pocan. “We’re paying more for durable goods, and you’re really gonna see it when you buy for the holidays this year because of the tariffs.”
Pocan criticized the impact of tariffs on farm markets, especially for Wisconsin farmers. He explained that tariffs have led to higher costs for groceries and durable goods, and have severely hurt soybean farmers in Wisconsin by reducing exports to China.
“There’s not a single purchase order in right now from China for soybeans.” Pocan said. “That used to be about a billion dollars worth in Wisconsin alone to farmers for soybeans. But we’ve seen a drop of 78% of the exports in soybeans.”
He also highlighted the bailout of Argentina, noting that while Wisconsin farmers lost their market in China due to tariffs, the U.S. government gave Argentina a $20 billion bailout.
“President Trump just gave Argentina $20 billion (that number is now $40 billion) bailout before he gave our farmers anything, ‘ said Pocan. “And now Argentina just lowered their export taxes and guess what? They’re selling soybeans to China. So, we just gave up our market here in Wisconsin, gave funding to Argentina, and now they’re gonna benefit from all this.”
Pocan concluded by urging Congress to return to work and address the pressing needs of constituents.
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