Fetterman fires back at Newsom after shutdown criticism, refuses to 'play chicken' with the lives of Americans
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he refuses to "play chicken" with the lives of the American people after California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized him for voting to reopen the government.
Newsom was among several Democrats who criticized Fetterman and seven other members of the Senate Democratic caucus for voting in favor of a deal to end the government shutdown and fund the government through January.
"Tonight’s Senate vote on the federal government shutdown would have been a time for strength," Newsom wrote on X. "Instead, we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans. The American people need more from their leaders."
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Fetterman dismissed Newsom’s comments, telling journalist Bari Weiss on her podcast Tuesday that he doesn’t care what the California governor thinks.
"I don't really spend any time worrying about what Gov. Newsom thinks," Fetterman said. "For me, it’s like this was the right call — this is the battleground representative here. You can't troll your way to explain to two million Pennsylvanians that they can't count on their SNAP benefits. I refuse to play chicken for people."
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office for comment.
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Fetterman has repeatedly broken with his party on government funding votes over the last 41 days. He initially backed the Republicans' "clean" continuing resolution to fund the government in September. After the resolution failed to pass, Fetterman has consistently voted to end the shutdown.
The Pennsylvania senator has said that he has "no regrets" regarding his vote despite his party's protests. He told Weiss that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is also facing backlash even though he voted for the shutdown to continue.
"I think he’s discovering that he can’t really kind of buy back in his graces with parts of the base," Fetterman said. "Now, you know, even now he has agreed to vote to shut our government down. And now they’re still calling him that he has to go."
The new Senate deal was passed with a 60-40 vote, the minimal threshold to break the filibuster. It now heads to the House for a final vote.