Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) was interviewed by Punchbowl News last week and discussed many topics, including being a moderate in today’s GOP, the government shutdown and his relationship with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro AND Senator John Fetterman.
The five-term Bucks County congressman has been a Democratic target since he was sworn in in 2017. But Fitzpatrick appears to be all he can do, winning re-election in 2024 by a margin of 12 percentage points.
What led to his success among the swing electorate?
“My brother, Microphonehe represented the district to me,” he told Punchbowl’s Anna Palmer AND Jake Sherman. “The best advice my brother gave me is: ‘Be your neighborhoods. Be the people you represent. As soon as the voting is over, get on the train and go home to your bosses. Reflect their voice on the floor, not your personal voice, but their voice on the floor.’
Amid the current political turmoil in Washington, some say Fitzpatrick is trying to “escape” from President Donald Trump and his unpopular policies, and while he “talks like an independent, he still helps empower the same Republican leadership and agenda.”
Fitzpatrick disagrees, saying look at his votes.
“I voted against the motion to continue ‘reconciliation,'” he told Palmer and Sherman. “We conveyed it to the White House. We conveyed it to the Speaker. So there were no surprises, despite public reports after the fact.”
“It got to the point in the Senate that it was no longer a net positive for the district.
“What I try to do with every piece of legislation is look at it as a whole and (ask), is it a positive or a net negative for the district? That’s it. I don’t care what party, what president, what party leader supports it or opposes it. We try to take that out of the equation.”
Fitzpatrick told the story of how he first registered as a Republican because of his admiration for the former president President Ronald Reagan. However, he has since stated that he rejects the two-party system.
“I really don’t believe it,” he said. “George Washington predicted this in his farewell address in 1796. This two-party system will be inherently divisive, and the entire pretext for adopting the Constitution and drafting it was consensus. And here we are 250 years later and people can’t even eat Thanksgiving dinner without arguing about red versus blue, which is madness.”
He talked about forming a coalition around ideas such as a stock trading ban in Congress with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), i Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
“It was the most refreshing experience I have ever had at this institution.
Fitzpatrick called the government shutdown “the stupidest thing in the world.”
“It costs money. It puts people at risk. It puts our economy at risk. I will support any government financing bill that is ever passed to fund the government,” he said.
“I would have voted for the Senate bill if it had passed. I voted for the House version. One thing they all have in common, not a single ICE reform in any of them. And that’s what got us here, right?”
Fitzpatrick shared his thoughts on both Shapiro and Fetterman.
“Josh is a good man and a friend,” he said of the governor. “I really think he should run for president. Josh is very smart and I have a really good relationship with him. I invited him to my wedding. I hope he comes.”
“I think he’s done a really good job for Pennsylvania. Each party has its own unique politics and I hope that doesn’t stop him from doing what he wants.”
Fitzpatrick believes Shapiro will win re-election this fall. And he called Fetterman “a good, effective senator.”
But the congressman said he didn’t know whether the Keystone State’s senior senator could win re-election.
Fitzpatrick switched gears and criticized his home state and its closed primary system.
“This is the greatest cruelty,” he said. “You want a direct linear correlation to the dysfunction that’s going on in state capitols and the US capital? Trace it all the way back to the closed primaries.
“You can be a 98-year-old World War II veteran who stormed the beaches of Normandy, saving civilization, and you register as an independent, and in half the states in this country they tell you you can’t vote in every other election. That’s crazy.”
He continued to be critical of those who simply fit the party idiom.
“I have real contempt for ideologists and partisans,” he said. It’s stupid to sign up for a party. Take a look at the most famed presidents of our generation. John F. Kennedy wouldn’t survive the Democratic primary today. Ronald Reagan wouldn’t survive the Republican primary today. What does this mean? Parties mean nothing.”
When asked if he would become independent, Fitzpatrick replied “100%” if he didn’t live in a closed primary school.
“I want everyone to be independent.”
