Sen. John Fetterman criticized his party’s hard-line shutdown tactics Wednesday night.
The Pennsylvania Democrat said that it’s country before party, and he refuses to vote in favor of a shutdown.
At a NewsNation town hall held at the Kennedy Center, Fetterman delivered a stinging rebuke of his Democrat colleagues, urging that budget squabbles not come at the cost of national stability.
“I follow country, then party,” he said.
Fetterman acknowledged that some of his constituents are upset with him over the government shutdown and the situation in the Israel-Hamas conflict leading up to the recent ceasefire.
“I would love to have a conversation on healthcare,” he added, calling the shutdown “wrong for the country.”
“I can’t vote for shutting the government down.”
Fetterman was among three senators who broke ranks to support a Republican-backed continuing resolution that would fund the government through Nov. 21.
He was joined by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats.
On Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” he described the shutdown as “very isolating” and said the message Democrats are sending is wrong.
Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., are accelerating pressure on Democrats.
On Thursday, Thune announced plans to bring a full-year Pentagon funding bill to the Senate floor, aiming to corner Democrats who oppose military funding amid the stalemate.
“If we’re sitting around here voting every day and they keep voting to keep the government shut down, we need to be trying to move the needle on some of the other stuff that we need to get done,” Thune told The Hill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats must see what Republicans would add to the bill before deciding on a vote.
On Wednesday, the Senate did not advance a House GOP bill to fund the government, falling short of the 60 votes needed — the ninth failure on day 15 of the shutdown.
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