A growing number of Pennsylvania Democrats have coalesced around a common cause: their frustration with the state’s senior Democratic senator.
Two years out from the end of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s term, some Democrats in the state are demanding he resign from office, or are rallying voters to oust him in 2028. Several of them have taken to social media to air their grievances in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report that described multiple instances of Fetterman skipping constituent meetings in Washington, dodging committee hearings and neglecting key responsibilities in his home state.
“If there is a decent bone left in your body, just quit,” former Rep. Conor Lamb wrote in a post on X. “It’s an insult to decent people in our state for you to treat them and the office this way.”
Lamb served two terms in the House before losing Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary to Fetterman by a wide margin in 2022. He has since made a name for himself by filling the void Fetterman’s absence has left at town halls and rallies across the state.
His call for Fetterman to resign included a screenshot from the Wall Street Journal article describing three paralyzed military veterans from rural Pennsylvania arriving at the senator’s Washington office for a planned meeting, only to find Fetterman absent. The senator, according to the Journal, had told his staff he was ill, only to appear in the office later that day with no apparent symptoms to prepare to discuss Israel and the Iran war during a live TV hit on Fox News.
Fetterman has been a divisive figure since he was elected to the Senate in 2022 with the backing of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. He frequently bucks his party on key votes, is a staunch supporter of Israel and has been described by ex-staffers as “Trump’s favorite Democrat.” The senator reportedly met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida weeks after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
But reports of his increasingly erratic behavior and absences from committee meetings, votes and meetings with his own constituents have drawn increased scrutiny over his ability to serve in high office.
“John Fetterman is a disgrace,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., wrote in a post on X Thursday. “Our state deserves better than a lazy trust fund baby who is too lazy to do the job.”
In another incident, Fetterman reportedly dismissed a meeting with officials from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who were seeking to discuss Trump’s looming cuts to Medicaid. The Trump administration’s deep cuts to Medicaid and other federal entitlement programs have become a rallying cry for Democrats as they seek to take back control of Congress in November.
“There is a lot I could say about this report of John Fetterman’s pathetic behavior as a Senator. But between the laziness, disrespect, and willingness to carry water for a foreign government, it shows us something we already know: this man has no sense of duty,” Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., wrote on X Friday.
“He is not up for the high office he was elected to — and we in Pennsylvania will do something about it in 2028,” Deluzio added.
Fetterman has been open about his struggles with mental illness after he suffered a severe stroke that affected his speech in 2022. His political calculus on a range of key issues since arriving in the Senate has both puzzled and outraged national Democrats.
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