This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s partnership with NOTUS, a nonpartisan news organization that covers government and politics with the fresh eyes of early career journalists and the expertise of veteran reporters.
Sen. John Fetterman was criticized by his Democratic peers Friday morning after a cutting Wall Street Journal article showed him shirking his committee duties, dodging face time with constituents and complaining about attending a set of police funerals.
Other members of the Pennsylvania delegation denounced the behavior, with some promising to oust Fetterman if he decides to run for reelection in 2028.
“John Fetterman is a disgrace,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pennsylvania) wrote on X. “Our state deserves better than a lazy trust fund baby who is too lazy to do the job.”
Once touted by progressives as a hoodie-wearing populist darling, Fetterman’s popularity with Democrats has soured this year, particularly after he joined Republicans on Iran war powers votes and indicated he could leave the party if leadership makes opposition to Israel central to its platform.
The Journal article cited more than a dozen of Fetterman’s former staffers and colleagues, as well as verified internal texts in which the senator demonstrated a lack of interest in participating in the basic duties associated with his position.
Ex-staffers told the newspaper he chose conservative media hits and pro-Israel activism over routine Senate work. During one stretch, the senator reportedly skipped 11 of 12 full hearings between a handful of board appointments, and later instructed his staff to ensure he was marked “present” at hearings even when he stayed for a minute or less.
A former senior aide described Fetterman as uninterested in the typical day-to-day responsibilities of the job — preferring instead to scroll on his phone, reading X and Apple News for mentions of his name.
“This is the behavior that makes me the most angry,” the aide told NOTUS. “You can have policy disagreements, but at least do the 101 basics of being a representative in a representative government.”
“We fought tooth and nail for him to go to hearings, to go to markups, to go to constituent meetings. His unwillingness to do the work is a disservice to Pennsylvanians and a disservice to the institution of the Senate,” the aide added.
A group of former Fetterman staffers “who are disgusted with what he’s become” created an X account on Friday intended to share stories about the senator. NOTUS verified the authenticity of the account’s ownership.
“Between the laziness, disrespect, and willingness to carry water for a foreign government, it shows us something we already know: this man has no sense of duty. He is not up for the high office he was elected to — and we in Pennsylvania will do something about it in 2028,” Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pennsylvania) wrote Friday morning on X.
The article highlighted additional concerns about his interactions with local constituents: In June, three paralyzed military veterans traveled from rural Pennsylvania to meet with Fetterman about health care legislation. The senator canceled on them, instructing staff to say he had a stomach bug, before appearing for a live interview on Fox News that day. And last September, he reportedly dismissed children’s hospital officials who were visiting D.C. to discuss vaccines and Medicaid cuts, quipping that they just wanted “free trips” to the capital.
When Pennsylvania state Rep. Liz Hanbidge traveled to Washington for a scheduled meeting on homelessness and working-class issues, Fetterman skipped it for a meeting with former NCAA basketball coach and pro-Israel advocate Bruce Pearl.
Internal communications showed that Fetterman refused to attend a three-hour funeral for fallen local police officers in Pennsylvania, declaring the length of the service a “nonstarter.”
Former Rep. Conor Lamb, who lost to Fetterman by over 30 percentage points in the 2022 Senate primary and could launch a new campaign for 2028, said the senator should submit his resignation papers.
“John, if there is a decent bone left in your body, just quit. It’s an insult to decent people in our state for you to treat them and the office this way,” he wrote on X.
Fetterman had already isolated himself from most party allies by the time President Donald Trump retook office.
He took a meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January 2025 before his inauguration. And in March 2025, when aides informed him that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was organizing a special conference call for Democrats, Fetterman wrote in texts, “I truly don’t care,” the Journal reported.
Democratic political strategist J.J. Abbott called the Journal story “deeply disturbing.”
“My take: those of us who can’t do anything about John’s behavior — criticizing him ain’t gonna do it — should ignore him,” he wrote on X. “All else is going right for PA Dems to win power in Harrisburg and DC. Let’s focus on winning and not giving him what he wants.”
Fetterman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.