Fetterman dismisses Newsom's shutdown criticism, says he won’t ‘play chicken’ with American lives

WASHINGTON, DC: Democrat John Fetterman has stated he will not gamble with the safety of citizens over political disputes, after California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized his vote to reopen the government.

The Pennsylvania senator spoke to journalist Bari Weiss on her podcast on Tuesday, November 11.

"I don't really spend any time worrying about what Newsom thinks," Fetterman said. He has also been outspoken about the role Republicans played in passing the bill and ending the long-running shutdown.

Newsom joined other Democrats in condemning Fetterman and seven Senate colleagues for supporting a plan to end the government shutdown and maintain funding through January.

John Fetterman stands firm on reopening vote, rejects Gavin Newsom’s criticism 

"Tonight’s Senate vote was an opportunity to demonstrate true leadership," Newsom wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "Instead, we saw compromise that lets down working Americans. They deserve stronger action from their leaders."

"For me, it’s like this was the right call this is the battleground representative here," he continued. "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."

Over the past days, Fetterman has frequently gone against his party on government funding votes. He initially supported the Republicans’ resolution to fund the government. After that measure failed, he has consistently voted to reopen the government and this didn't sit well with Newsom.

Despite protests from fellow Democrats, the Pennsylvania senator says he has “no regrets” about his decision. He also noted that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, has faced criticism even though he voted to continue the shutdown.

"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."

Senate ends long government shutdown and sends deal to House

The Senate finally broke the 41-day cycle of the government shutdown. Lawmakers approved a funding plan supported by both Democrats and Republicans. A group of eight Senate Democrats joined Republicans to push the deal forward, giving the package the crucial votes it needed to move to the House. 

The vote combined a new short-term funding plan, called a continuing resolution, with three other spending bills into a single “minibus” package, as per Fox News.  For most of last week, it was uncertain whether the Senate could reach this stage. Even after the plan cleared, lawmakers were still worried that objections or other tactics could delay or block it.