Top Democratic lawmakers and party figures are criticizing Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., after a report from The Wall Street Journal found the wild-card senator has spent much of his first term ducking meetings with constituents and skipping out on his responsibilities.
Several Democrats from Fetterman’s home state of Pennsylvania accused the senator of being “too lazy to do the job,” with some hinting at efforts to remove him from office when he’s up for reelection in 2028. The story details multiple instances in which Fetterman canceled meetings with constituents or refused to attend party meetings to discuss strategy or legislative priorities.
“There is a lot I could say about this report of John Fetterman’s pathetic behavior as a Senator,” Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., wrote in a social media post on Friday. “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. He is not up for the high office he was elected to — and we in Pennsylvania will do something about it in 2028.”
The Wall Street Journal report detailed one experience in which a trio of paralyzed military veterans waited in Fetterman’s office to meet with him earlier this summer to discuss legislation related to their care. However, Fetterman reportedly canceled last minute citing an illness — only to arrive at his office an hour later to prepare for an interview on Fox News to discuss Israel and the war in Iran.
Last September, Fetterman similarly dismissed a proposed meeting with officials from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who wanted to discuss Medicaid cuts.
“Why do I have to keep meeting with chop,” Fetterman wrote in a text message, referring to a common moniker for the hospital.
“Because they are worried about vaccines and Medicaid cuts,” an aide responded.
“Well I’m not,” Fetterman said. “I’m convinced they just want free trips to DC.”
Those instances, as well as others detailed in the report, provide a stark contrast to how Fetterman first ran his Senate campaign in 2022 as someone who embraced rural communities and constituents who felt they had been left behind by politicians in Washington, D.C.
But even within the halls of Congress, Fetterman appears to have placed himself on an island within his own party.
The first-term senator regularly refuses to participate in the weekly caucus lunches with other Democrats, according to the report, and he has privately criticized Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Just four years into his term, Fetterman has almost completely isolated himself from other members of his party, the report shows.
“John Fetterman is a disgrace,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said in a post on X on Thursday. “Our state deserves better than a lazy trust fund baby who is too lazy to do the job.”
The Deseret News contacted Fetterman’s office for comment.
Fetterman has established brand as party outsider
The latest revelations come as Fetterman has already established himself as somewhat of an outsider within his own caucus over the last few years.
Fetterman has repeatedly broken with his party to support Republican-led funding bills, arguing he would never support a government shutdown due to a partisan fight. He has also become one of the party’s most vocal supporters of Israel — even going so far as to say he would leave the Democratic Party if it became the “anti-Israel party.”
The Democratic senator has even, at times, seemed closer to his Republican colleagues than those in his own camp.
Shannon Watts, a gun violence activist, recalled a “bonkers meeting” she had with Fetterman in his D.C. office in 2024, during which the senator “launched into a tirade about a tweet I’d posted about his Republican colleague.”
“Fetterman was angry because this colleague had visited him in the hospital and I guess he thought I should know that and abstain from tweeting about his allies? I found it odd that he was clocking my tweets,” Watts wrote in a social media post. “Anyway, this went on for what seemed like an eternity until he decided the meeting was over.”
Other Democrats emerge as rebels
Meanwhile, a handful of other Democrats on the House side have begun exploring their own rebellious ways — even at the expense of party leadership, who could control the lower chamber next year.
Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Glusenkamp Perez of Washington surprised members of both parties when they voted in favor of the rule, a procedural motion that sets the parameters for debate and passage for legislation that is brought to the floor. The measure, which typically falls along party lines, was on track to fail due to a handful of Republican holdouts.
However, Golden and Glusenkamp Perez voted in favor of the rule, giving it enough support to move forward. Had it failed, the lineup of bills scheduled for this week would not have been able to move forward — including a bill led by Golden.
The pair did not notify Democratic leadership ahead of the vote, according to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — prompting him to instruct the Committee on Caucus Rules to consider possible consequences.
Jeffries said he spoke with Glusenkamp Perez after the incident in what he described as “a productive, forward-looking conversation” about how to “communicate with each other in a consistent way.”
Jeffries said he had “a brief communication” with Golden, but indicated it was not an in-depth conversation like the one he had with Glusenkamp Perez. And it remained unclear whether leadership would punish the pair, or if that would set an unwanted precedent for a possible Jeffries speakership.
“We’re going to move forward together in unity in order to solve problems for the American people,” Jeffries said on Thursday.