Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) is breaking ranks with his own party as the government shutdown drags on, siding with Republicans in a key vote to reopen the government.
The shutdown has now become one of the longest in American history, leaving Democrats and Republicans locked in a bitter standoff over healthcare funding.
Fetterman, one of the few Democrats to defy party leadership, voted with Republicans to get federal workers paid again and end the shutdown.
“It’s an easy, easy choice to pick my country over the party, especially in circumstances like this,” Fetterman said on Saturday in America.
The Senate fell short in a 54–46 vote to advance a Republican-backed bill to pay federal workers during the shutdown. The bill needed 60 votes to pass. Only three Democrats joined Republicans — and Fetterman was one of them.
Democrats have refused to support any funding measure unless it includes an extension of enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Those subsidies are set to expire in 2025, and Democrats argue that failing to extend them could cause premiums to spike for millions of Americans.
Republicans counter that reopening the government must come first. They say negotiations over healthcare can continue once federal workers return to work, per the New York Post.
Fetterman said he understands why many in his party are refusing to budge. “I do believe that there’s a critical mass of my fellow Democrats that are dug in until there’s an absolute ironclad kind of a deal,” he said.
Even so, the Pennsylvania Democrat made clear he doesn’t share that approach. He praised Senate Majority Leader John Thune as an “honorable guy” and said he believes negotiations will move forward once the shutdown ends.
“Let’s just open it up,” Fetterman said. “Then we can have that conversation to 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 shutdown, which began on October 1, has closed nonessential federal offices and delayed paychecks for hundreds of thousands of employees. As the crisis entered its fourth week, many workers missed their first whole paycheck.
The ongoing standoff has also disrupted programs serving vulnerable Americans, including the federal government’s nutrition assistance program.
Fetterman said the issue is personal to him and that lawmakers must set aside politics to ensure families can eat.
He added that the current deadlock isn’t about winning or losing politically — because in his view, the entire country is paying the price.
“It’s like, ‘Are we winning? Are we losing?’” he said. “Because I guarantee America is losing in this place right now.”
Fetterman’s defiance of party leadership marks a rare moment of independence among Senate Democrats and underscores growing pressure to end the shutdown as Americans feel the economic strain.
