U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) (left) waits for an elevator with staffers outside the Senate chambers during a Senate vote on February 20, 2025 in Washington. There’s an all-night voting marathon in the Senate, called a “vote-a-rama,” as Republicans look to pass the GOP budget resolution. (Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania rejected criticism of his decision to vote with Republicans to end the nation’s longest government shutdown after others in his party demanded concessions on expiring health care tax credits.
“I strongly support extending these tax breaks, but to me this kind of chaos and holding our government hostage is unacceptable and, in fact, goes against the values of my party,” Fetterman said in a statement hour-long interview with NPR’s Scott Detrow.
Since the interview aired Tuesday, Fetterman was hospitalized after falling during a morning walk near his home in Braddock. The spokesman said Fetterman suffered ventricular fibrillation, which made him feel dizzy and he fell, suffering minor facial injuries. He is under observation at a hospital in Pittsburgh.
During the first three years of his term, Fetterman was often at odds with most of his party. He addressed his position as a dissenting voice within his party on the Gaza war and his future as a Democrat, as well as his up-to-date book, “Unfettered.”
It chronicles his 2022 campaign, the near-fatal stroke that nearly derailed it, and the severe depression that followed.
“When you hear the expression that you can’t get out of bed, I thought that’s not entirely fair,” Fetterman said. “It’s true. I couldn’t get out of bed. That’s part of the lie you start telling yourself about depression, and that’s when it really becomes perilous when it pushes you to the final argument of ‘now it’s time to get out.’
In 2023, Fetterman underwent over a month of treatment at the National Military Medical Center. Walter Reed and stood out in politics for his willingness to talk about his experiences. But Fetterman said in an interview that he did not regret doing it, even though opponents used it “to create an impression that is simply not true.”
“I know that talking about things like this doesn’t necessarily make you a big political winner. And I think I was the first official elected that way,” he said, adding that he felt his honesty could better facilitate others experiencing depression. “I don’t know what your recovery is like [like] but as long as you stay at it, I promise you you will feel better.
“I described it as… a dark gift. I wouldn’t ask for it, but if you have it, you can appreciate life on the other side,” he said.
In his book, Fetterman also writes about his relationship with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and the rift that was never resolved. This stemmed from disagreements over the cases of prisoners seeking mercy before the Board of Pardons, where they served when Fetterman was lieutenant governor and Shapiro was state attorney general.
Fetterman, who argued for leniency, writes that Shapiro became more cautious and Fetterman came to believe that his decisions on the board were influenced by political ambitions. His frustration grew to the point that he called Shapiro a “fucking a**hole” during a live appearance.
Detrow questioned Fetterman about his relationship with Shapiro, asking if what Fetterman wrote was true, that they had no work relationship and were not talking.
“The dispute started at the Board of Pardons … mainly over the brothers who were innocent and I didn’t want them to die in prison, and that’s where it started and that’s where it ended,” Fetterman said, adding that he and Shapiro attended political meetings and fundraisers together. He said the fact that they had not spoken was “not news” and that there were “no significant differences in our political views.”
Fetterman did not say whether he had decided to seek re-election. “If it’s ’28, who knows? About how long?” he said, adding: “What’s important to me [is] that I am not changing the party.”
Democratic colleagues and voters have accused Fetterman of working with GOP senators on legislation and adopting positions on immigration that are more aligned with Republicans than his own party. Fetterman told Detrow he stands behind his voting record, which he described as following his caucus 90% of the time. He denied that he was considering changing the party.
“This is the purplest state in the country and a lot of people you know and love voted for the other side and they’re not fascists. They’re not Nazis,” Fetterman said. “They’re not trying to destroy our constitution and our democracy. And now I’m trying to find a way forward and this is where I find myself.”
When asked about the Democratic Party’s lack of connection with men and the working class, Fetterman replied that it was due to culture annihilation and implying that working people who vote for Republicans were voting against their own interests.
“So this idea is a wrong approach, a claim that you are wrong,” he said. “Are you stupid?” You know, it’s like, “no, you have different values,” and so I respect them and I try to find a way to communicate that.
Fetterman said he believed former Vice President Kamala Harris made a sedate mistake by calling President Donald Trump a fascist during the 2024 campaign because it turned off voters who had supported him in the past and whom Democrats were trying to win over. He added that he does not see himself as a guardian of what is within the norms.
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He cited the Trump administration’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House to make room for a ballroom. Fetterman said the legitimate concerns stem from the fact that the residence does not have enough space for enormous events.
“It was shocking that I leveled part of the White House, but to me it’s not, it’s not my mountain,” Fetterman said.
When asked what his hill was, Fetterman replied, “For me it’s an expression: sometimes you choose your battles and sometimes they choose you. And for me, you know, it quickly became Israel.”
Detrow asked Fetterman if he ever second-guessed his pro-Israel stance when the death toll in Gaza was in the tens of thousands.
“We need to talk about the context of what Israel was able to accomplish … because they were able to neutralize and destroy Hamas, the same with Hezbollah, and then they had the opportunity to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities. I was the only Democrat who supported that,” Fetterman said, adding that he happens to agree with Trump on supporting Israel’s response.
American forces, after Israel’s initial attack, used Art June 21st raid by B-2 stealth bombers at three heavily fortified nuclear weapons development sites. The action was criticized by Democrats who said it exceeded the president’s authority to exploit military force without congressional approval.
Fetterman also questioned whether the ongoing violence in Gaza should be blamed on Israeli bombings or Iran-funded proxies such as Hamas or Hezbollah. He also said that “no one reports how many actual Hamas fighters or others” were killed.
“Why can’t people condemn building tunnels under hospitals and digging in where civilians are?” Fetterman asked, adding that the continued existence of Hamas is an obstacle to ending the violence and rebuilding Gaza.
“This is part of the tragedy. That’s why Hamas must be destroyed and neutralized. It’s a cancer, it’s an absolute cancer and I want all the best for innocent Palestinians. They deserve to live in peace and I hope they succeed,” he said.
