Fetterman plays political maverick, but his voting record tells another story

The Senate’s most recognizable rogue Democrat has increasingly broken with his party since Republicans took control of the upper chamber, but he still votes with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a majority of the time. 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is the Senate’s biggest enigma during a time of hyper-partisanship — he bucks his party on key issues, like the war in Iran and immigration, but continues to vote with Democrats an overwhelming amount of the time.

Since joining the Senate in 2023, Fetterman has voted with Senate Democrats nearly 90% of the time, a figure that stacks up closely to some of the most staunch party liners in the caucus. Still, speculation has swirled as to whether he’ll jump the political shark and become a Republican. 

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Despite that, Fetterman has set the terms clearly this year, arguing that if Democrats continued to turn their backs on Israel, he would leave the party. But some in the GOP believe that no matter the swirl percolating in Washington, D.C., Fetterman isn’t swapping jerseys. He’s also keeping the speculation heavy about whether he will run for another term.

“John Fetterman is a staunch Democrat that votes with his party 96% of the time, anybody who seriously believes that he is going to switch to the Republican Party is thinking wishfully,” a senior Republican aide told Fox News Digital.

Fetterman’s national political career began as a politician armed with an endorsement for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., running in a pivotal race in 2022 against Dr. Mehmet Oz.

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Sanders told the Associated Press at the time that “if there’s any candidate who was running more than anybody else, who identified with the working class, who made it clear that he was going to Washington to represent working people, it was John Fetterman.”

He flipped that seat, giving Democrats one of the slimmest majorities in history and cementing himself as a rock star in the party.

Since then, he’s run away from Sanders’ ideals and often rejected Schumer and the caucus’ marching orders.

But this year he’s leaned into that grey area, sometimes known as being a centrist, to support Republican ideals. During this session of Congress, Fetterman has broken from Democrats more than ever before, dropping to just under 81% along Democratic Party lines. 

And while that’s happening, Fetterman is reportedly using Republican fundraising platforms to soak up precious donor dollars, is close friends with one of the GOP’s own rock stars, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., made a video message introducing McCormick at the RNC and even accidentally called himself a lifelong Republican during an appearance at the Texas Tribune’s Tribfest last month.

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But when asked about whether he’s considering leaving the party, even after drawing a line in the sand, he recoils — it’s become such a hot topic in the hallways of the Senate that Fetterman stopped taking questions.

As to whether he would jump ship depending on the outcome of the upcoming election, Fetterman said during the event that “there are no Republicans with a 90% Democratic vote line. There are no pro-choice, there’s no pro-gay community, that does not exist in the Republican Party.”

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“How many times do I have to say it? And that’s the point. So wait until after the midterms and see what happens,” Fetterman said. “And now, if we do win, and I’m 51, people can remember, ‘hey, that’s why it’s mathematically possible to retain the majority,’ because I was able to win a state like Pennsylvania.”

Fetterman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.