![\"Fetterman](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot_465-1756258025-q80.webp\")
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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) \u201cnever\u201d spoke with him about the ongoing government shutdown, adding that \u201cno one really knows\u201d who is leading Democrats in Congress.<\/p>\n
Fetterman made the remarks during an appearance on Fox & Friends, responding to an Axios report that Schumer had privately urged a group of moderate Democrats in mid-October to keep the government closed until at least the start of the Affordable Care Act open enrollment on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not in a conversation or I never got any outreach,\u201d said Fetterman, adding that \u201ceveryone understood\u201d his position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really kind of led the charge [to keep the government open] back in March. And then I said, \u2018I know we\u2019ll be back in September.\u2019 And I said, \u2018I know where my vote will be then, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Fetterman was among eight Democrats and Democrat-aligned independents who voted Monday night to reopen the federal government following the longest shutdown in U.S. history, doing so without securing any Republican concessions on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies beyond the end of the year, the New York Post reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always a hard yes to keep our government open,\u201d he explained Tuesday during his Fox appearance. \u201cI mean, that\u2019s my principle, because it\u2019s wrong to shut our government down. And now we knew that we would put [at risk] those 42 million Americans for SNAP and paying our military and, you know, the Capitol Police.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, people have went five weeks without being paid. I mean, that\u2019s a violation of my core values. And I think it\u2019s [a violation of] our party\u2019s [values] as well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He openly blasted his fellow Democrats for turning the shutdown into a political stunt, calling it an \u201cabsolute failure\u201d and reminding them that \u201cAmericans are not leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by co-host Lawrence Jones: \u201cWho is running the show now in the Democratic Party, in the Senate, in the House?\u201d, the Pennsylvanian made a frank and stunning admission.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one really knows,\u201d Fetterman responded. \u201cMy values are reflected in my vote and the things that I support here, and if that might put me at odds with parts of my party, I\u2019m okay with that. I mean, we need to be a \u2026 big tent party.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hoodie-wearing senator has not hesitated to distance himself from certain elements of his party\u2019s left-wing movement, maintaining a strong pro-Israel stance and expressing concern over the aggressive, all-or-nothing tactics favored by many on the party\u2019s extremist flank.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my party crossed a line of now putting 42 American \u2014 excuse me, 42 million Americans with \u2014 with their SNAP benefits [expiring],\u201d Fetterman said. \u201cAnd making flying less safe and that kind of chaos and not paying our military. I mean, that was a red line for me that I can\u2019t cross as a Democrat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The revised government funding bill approved by the Senate would keep federal operations running through Jan. 30, 2026, and provide funding for SNAP, veterans\u2019 programs, and congressional operations through Sept. 30. The House is expected to pass the measure on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Fetterman was also promoting his new memoir, \u201cUnfettered,\u201d released Tuesday, which details his career in public service and his personal battle with depression.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, you know, my message was very, very simple: if anyone feels lost or they\u2019re in the throes of depression, you know, I beg people, please, please stay in this game, because I promise you \u2014 you will get better,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree years ago, you know, I was in the depths of that depression, and now I\u2019ve emerged as a [US] senator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghosts in the Sand: How Trumpet Worm Nests Shaped Curious Childhoods<\/p>\n
It looked alien.<\/p>\n
Half-buried in the sand, curled like something fossilized or forgotten, it sat by the shoreline where our bare feet used to wander. As kids, we weren\u2019t sure what it was\u2014only that it felt wrong somehow.<\/p>\n
Too strange. Too still. We called it the thing, dared each other to touch it, then shrieked and ran as if it might come alive.<\/p>\n
Long before we knew the word polychaete, these trumpet worm nests haunted our beach days like whispers from a secret world. And for many of us, they\u2019ve never quite left.<\/p>\n
When Childhood Isn\u2019t All Soft Focus and Sunbeams<\/p>\n
Not every childhood memory is a golden haze. Some stick because they unsettled us, because they made us ask questions we didn\u2019t have answers to. The trumpet worm nest is one of those strange fixtures\u2014unassuming to adults, unforgettable to children. It wasn\u2019t dangerous. It wasn\u2019t dramatic. But it had a quiet weirdness that dug into your imagination and stayed there.<\/p>\n
What was it? Where did it come from? Could it move?<\/strong><\/p>\n Even now, the memory lingers.<\/p>\n The Architects Beneath the Tide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) \u201cnever\u201d spoke with him about the ongoing government shutdown, adding that \u201cno one really knows\u201d who is leading Democrats…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t