Republicans say they'd welcome Fetterman as GOP eyes bigger Senate majority

Republicans are ready to embrace a maverick Democrat eying an exit from the party to further grow their thin majority.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., recently drew a sharp line in the sand on what it would take to leave the Democratic Party, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would be happy to have him officially cross the aisle.

"Yes, we would welcome him," Thune said. "And I haven't talked to him recently. I have had conversations with him in the past, as have many of my colleagues, about the challenges he faces in his caucus. And, you know, there are many of us who I think would welcome the opportunity to have him join the Republican conference."

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Fetterman, who helped clinch a historically thin Democratic majority in 2022 running on a progressive platform, has transformed into a staunch advocate for Israel at the same time his Democratic colleagues in the Senate have begun pulling away from supporting the Jewish State.

He has routinely broken with his party in his support of the war in Iran and Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. And that has fueled many of his policy positions on key votes in the upper chamber.

Fetterman told the Hill earlier this month that if Democrats continued to pull further and further away from supporting Israel, he’d leave.

"If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me," Fetterman said.

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Each time Senate Democrats have brought forward a war powers resolution to rein in Trump’s authority in the region, and force the administration to come to Congress for approval, Fetterman has joined Republicans to vote it down.

Earlier this year, Fetterman argued, "Something like this is much more important than just voting what your base might demand."

"Because I think things are much bigger and more important than that," he continued. "And Iran with a nuclear bomb is one of those things."

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Fetterman’s edict on his party’s possible evolution came after 103 House Democrats — over half of the caucus — voted to end $3.3 billion in taxpayer-funded aid to Israel.

And earlier this year, Senate Democrats showed their slow creep backward against Israel, too, following the release of photos of starving children in Gaza.

Forty Senate Democrats voted to halt arms sales and military bulldozers to Israel as an act of protest against Trump’s war in Iran in April.

The two resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., combined would have blocked nearly $500 million in arms and equipment sales to Israel. One resolution would have halted the sale of roughly $295 million in Caterpillar bulldozers, while the other would have stopped the sale of nearly $152 million worth of 1,000-pound bombs.

Still, Thune said as much as Republicans would want to add him to their ranks, particularly with his seat up in 2028, the decision remains with Fetterman.

"I mean, this is a party that's moving further and further, more radically, and to the more extreme left on a lot of issues," Thune said. "And I think people like John Fetterman, who have views that probably reflect a more moderate or at least historically moderate Democrat position, are really kind of people without a home."

"So if he ever comes to the conclusion that he's ready to move, we would certainly welcome it," he continued.