John Fetterman, Who Has Been Absent Most of His Career, Returning to Chair Senate Subcommittee on Food Stamps

admin April 14, 2023

While some Democrats are now actively calling for 89-year-old Dianne Feinstein to resign her Senate seat, there seems to be nothing but cheers as Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a man who is barely functioning as an independent adult and has to receive extensive assistance in order to carry out his daily duties, is set to return to the Senate.

Fetterman, who was receiving treatment for depression severe enough that he had to be hospitalized for six weeks, will be coming back to work and is already set to lead a hearing on food stamps.

“The news is out! I’m very excited to chair my first subcommittee hearing next week,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “We’ll be talking about protecting SNAP, fighting for PA’s farmers in the Farm Bill, and much more. Hope you’ll tune in.”

Did you feel this way about Fetterman? https://t.co/I1YD3ZncIm

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 12, 2023

This Act is Getting Old

Fetterman has been gone since February 15, meaning that he served less than a month before taking his six-week leave of absence to resolve his depression and hearing loss.

Left-leaning sites such as Politico have attempted to paint this as something that happens often, citing other senators such as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein as examples of politicians who have had to take leaves of absence during their terms.

What no one can deny though, which even Politico has had to admit to a degree, is that Fetterman is not a usual case. Fetterman’s health has been under scrutiny since he was running for Senate last year in his face-off against Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman suffered from a severe stroke last May, and since then has shown trouble with language, requiring him to have full time staff and caregivers not just available to help him with his work, but day to day activities.

“Since being sworn in, Fetterman has used transcription technology to help him talk to colleagues and conduct Senate business,” Politico mentioned.

During his stay at Walter Reed Medical Center, he also signed onto a bipartisan rail safety bill, causing many to ask whether he himself made the decision or if members of his staff did so on his behalf.

Democrats are calling on Senator Dianne Feinstein to resign over health concerns.

Why aren’t those same Democrats calling for Joe Biden’s or John Fetterman’s resignation?

— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) April 13, 2023

Will the Real Wizard of Oz Please Stand Up?

In March, when Fetterman was shown as having co-sponsored the rail bill, he faced massive criticism from conservatives as to whether he was truly working. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson was one of the most notable voices to bring attention to this.

“Fetterman got to Washington in January and within a month suffered a mental breakdown so severe that he wound up in the psych ward where he remains tonight,” Carlson said at the time.

“He has not appeared in the public since. And we’re supposed to think that’s not a big deal,” Carlson added. “We’re not even supposed to think about it and just show how completely normal it is for newly elected U.S. senators to have a mental breakdown and disappear from public view.”

Carlson brought attention to the authenticity of the rail bill which he co-sponsored, saying “So here you have a guy who’s getting round-the-clock psychiatric care deciding how to prevent train derailments.”

“There’s so many questions here. But the most obvious one is a logistical question: How is John Fetterman doing this if he’s in the psych ward? And we don’t know because no one will say.”

Well now, we’re going to have to finally see how things really look with Fetterman leading this new sub committee. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.