Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) escalated his criticism of his own party’s approach to the ongoing government shutdown, stating during a Saturday interview on Fox News that the United States “is losing” as a result of the protracted stalemate.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who has repeatedly broken ranks with the majority of his colleagues by voting for GOP-backed funding measures, urged fellow Democrats to vote to open the government immediately before continuing negotiations over expiring Obamacare premium subsidies, which are reportedly the central sticking point for Democrats.
Appearing on “Saturday in America” with Kayleigh McEnany, Fetterman suggested that the current Democratic strategy of prolonging the shutdown until a comprehensive deal is reached is misplaced.
“I do believe that there’s a critical mass of my fellow Democrats that are dug in and now, until there’s an absolute ironclad kind of a deal,” Fetterman said. He expressed confidence in Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R) as an “honorable guy” and suggested a “sincere conversation” could take place after the government is reopened.
READ: “Cut The Sh-t”: Pennsylvania Sen. Fetterman Rips Democrats, Demands Government Reopen
“Let’s just open it up, and then we have our SNAP, we have everyone’s paid. And then we can have that conversation and see if we can extend those tax credit deals because I do believe there are enough Republicans that would like to see that too,” the senator argued, referencing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is projected to run out of funding in November 2025 if the shutdown continues.
Fetterman painted the 26-day closure—one of the longest in U.S. history—as a loss for the country. “I don’t check, it’s like, ‘Are we winning?’, ‘Are we losing?’, and the thing— it’s like, because, I guarantee America is losing in this place right now,” he told McEnany.
In a further sign of his frustration, Fetterman also weighed in on Senate procedure, calling it “entirely appropriate” to “nuke the filibuster” specifically to prevent future government shutdowns. He clarified he was not advocating for eliminating the entire procedural tool, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation.
“And carving it out, the filibuster, now would make it almost impossible to shut our government down in the future, regardless if it’s the Democrats or the Republicans doing these things. We should remove ourselves, our power to shut this down in this way,” Fetterman asserted.
READ: Pennsylvania Sen. Fetterman Breaks With Dems On Shutdown, Will Continue Voting To Fund Government
The senator also slammed the reversal by many Democrats who had previously campaigned on ending the filibuster when they were in the minority, but have since used it repeatedly to block GOP measures aimed at ending the current shutdown. “We ran on killing the filibuster, and now we love it,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
His remarks reinforce a tough line he took earlier this week, when he told reporters, “Just open up the whole thing and just cut the shit. I don’t care about who’s winning, who’s losing, who’s going to blink.”
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