Fetterman defends his voting record: "Maybe our party has a bigger problem"

4 days ago 8

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman defended his voting grounds and addressed the disapproval he's received from immoderate successful his ain enactment for gathering and sometimes voting with President Trump.

"I ballot a 91% Democratic line, and if Democrats person a occupation with idiosyncratic that votes 91% of the aforesaid times arsenic you are, much than 9 retired of 10 times, past possibly our enactment has a bigger problem," helium said successful an interrogation that aired Wednesday on "CBS Mornings."

Fetterman voted with Republicans implicit a twelve times to money the authorities and extremity the government shutdown portion astir Senate Democrats held out. The effort failed 14 times implicit the past 42 days. During that time, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and autarkic Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, besides backed the House-passed backing bill.

The Senate yet passed a measure Monday with enactment from 7 Democrats, including Fetterman, arsenic good arsenic King, and it is present moving toward transition successful the House.

The woody reached successful the Senate would widen authorities backing until Jan. 31, to springiness Congress much clip to walk afloat appropriations bills. The measure does not widen wellness attraction taxation credits for Affordable Care Act insurance, which Democrats had been demanding, but does warrant a ballot connected the issue. The credits are acceptable to expire astatine the extremity of the year, erstwhile implicit 20 cardinal Americans who acquisition their ain security done the ACA volition spot their premiums spike.

The statement besides includes 3 afloat backing bills that lawmakers person been moving connected for months. The 3 bills see backing for military operation and the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Department of Agriculture and FDA; and operations for the legislative branch. It would besides guarantee national workers who were not paid during the shutdown volition person backmost pay. The measure volition besides reverse the layoffs that the Trump medication implemented during the authorities shutdown and prevents immoderate cuts until the extremity of January.

Fetterman said his views are reflected successful his vote.

He suggested Democrats should beryllium "the large structure enactment that radical need," and helium distanced himself from immoderate his colleagues' rhetoric.

"I garbage to telephone people, similar whether it's President Trump oregon different people, arsenic they're Nazis oregon that they're fascists, oregon that we're trying to destruct our country. … I garbage to usage that benignant of rhetoric and I cognize that there's parts of my basal that they privation that. And there's immoderate people, my colleagues, that adjacent monetize that benignant of outrage close now."

Unlike galore of his Democratic colleagues, Fetterman voted to corroborate immoderate of Mr. Trump's Cabinet picks, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Nearly 1 twelvemonth into the president's term, Fetterman admitted he's "incredibly disappointed" with Bondi, but added, "voting for idiosyncratic does not mean that you hold with them connected each of those things."