{"id":9134,"date":"2026-07-18T01:59:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9134"},"modified":"2026-07-18T01:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:59:39","slug":"the-cabinets-favorite-congressional-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9134","title":{"rendered":"The Cabinet\u2019s favorite congressional district"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/2c\/83\/b88e922540289ebd42210d63a81d\/img-4863.JPG\" \/><\/p>\n<p>White House chief of staff Susie Wiles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/west-wing-playbook-remaking-government\/2026\/04\/22\/wiles-to-cabinet-stay-in-the-usa-00887792\" target=\"_blank\"><u>told the Cabinet <\/u><\/a>in April to cut back on international travel.<\/p>\n<p>So they found a domestic riviera overlooking the mighty Mississippi River in southwestern Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, Rep. Derrick Van Orden\u2019s District, which has become the Trump administration&#8217;s No. 1 domestic stop for Cabinet officials, according to two RNC officials granted anonymity to share the Cabinet\u2019s travel data.<\/p>\n<p>That distinction underscores both the district&#8217;s political importance and Republicans&#8217; determination to protect one of their most vulnerable incumbents.<\/p>\n<p>There have been 10 \u2013 count them \u2013 administration officials who have visited this year including President Donald Trump: Vice President JD Vance, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz have all made appearances in the district.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re talking milk in school lunches (RFK Jr.), no tax on tips (Loeffler and Sonderling) and veterans benefits (Collins).<\/p>\n<p>And Republicans say they&#8217;re not done yet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is more travel expected,&#8221; one of the RNC officials said, adding that Wisconsin\u2019s 3rd District is one of the committee&#8217;s highest priorities heading into November.<\/p>\n<p>The district has become something of a proving ground for a key part of the White House\u2019s midterms strategy, a playbook the Biden administration deployed as well: using Cabinet officials not just to promote administration policy via local press, but to boost vulnerable House Republicans in battleground seats.<\/p>\n<p>Several Cabinet members have also traveled to Michigan\u2019s 7th District for Rep. Tom Barrett, another battleground where the White House is betting that high-profile visits can help boost vulnerable incumbents. The visits have ranged from policy rollouts to roundtables with local stakeholders, giving Van Orden and Barrett repeated opportunities to appear alongside top administration officials while generating local television coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Van Orden, a second-term Republican who flipped the seat in 2022 after Democrat Ron Kind retired, represents one of the GOP&#8217;s most competitive districts.<\/p>\n<p>Van Orden won by over 51 percent of the vote in 2024, less than the 52.9 percent Trump took over then-Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 45.5 percent, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-downballot.com\/p\/the-downballots-calculations-of-presidential\" target=\"_blank\"><u>The Downballot<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Van Orden, in a statement, attributed the high traffic to the Trump administration\u2019s focus on rural America, which he said has been \u201coverlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Trump Administration knows the best ideas come from the hardworking Americans who keep this country running,\u201d he said. \u201cPresident Trump has made rural America a priority, and these visits demonstrate that commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have targeted the La Crosse-based seat as one of their best pickup opportunities as they try to reclaim the House majority.<\/p>\n<p>Trump traveled to Van Orden\u2019s district earlier this year for a farm-focused event, although thunderstorms forced changes to the schedule, including moving a television interview into a barn.<\/p>\n<p>Kind, who represented the Wisconsin district for more than two decades before retiring, said the barnstorming reflects Republican anxiety more than confidence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you have an incumbent that&#8217;s in trouble, you bring in administration officials to capture the headlines and to shape the narrative as best you can,\u201d Kind said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Kind said he understands why the administration keeps returning.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not surprising given how competitive that district is, and his feeling about the need to bring in some administration officials for some quick media hits,&#8221; Kind said. &#8220;Again, tough environment I think for him and Republicans in these competitive districts this year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But he questioned whether the visits address the concerns voters will ultimately weigh, like cuts to Medicaid in January that will \u201cadversely impact\u201d the district\u2019s residents and be \u201cdevastating\u201d for rural hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans see the district differently. The White House&#8217;s travel emphasis reflects a belief that administration officials can help localize their national accomplishments like the \u201cOne Big, Beautiful bill,\u201d no tax on tips and overtime, and the administration\u2019s crack down on SNAP and Medicaid fraud, while demonstrating that the administration remains engaged in communities outside Washington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump, Vice President Vance, and Cabinet secretaries are visiting congressional districts across the country to meet people where they are and highlight the administration\u2019s long list of accomplishments for American families,\u201d White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement, adding that Van Orden, Barrett and others are \u201cworking closely with the administration to bring deliverables home to their districts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The focus also mirrors the attention Democrats gave western Wisconsin during the presidential campaign. Harris targeted La Crosse and surrounding areas, viewing the region as essential to winning the state of Wisconsin, which she lost.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s Wisconsin primaries are set for August and Democrats Rebecca Cooke and Emily Berge are vying to challenge Van Orden in November. The Cook Political Report rates the race a \u201ctoss up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICO\u2019s <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/west-wing-playbook\" target=\"_blank\"><i>West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government newsletter<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told the Cabinet in April to cut back on international travel. So they found a domestic riviera overlooking the mighty Mississippi River in southwestern Wisconsin. Specifically, Rep. Derrick Van Orden\u2019s District, which has become the Trump administration&#8217;s No. 1 domestic stop for Cabinet officials, according to two RNC&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/2c\/83\/b88e922540289ebd42210d63a81d\/img-4863.JPG","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}