Sen. John Fetterman fired a searing shot at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democrats’ civil war over the Donald Trump-backed spending bill that passed the Senate on Friday.
Ahead of Friday’s vote, Fetterman was asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s accusation that Senate Dems who vote for the Republican spending bill are betraying their colleagues. His response was blunt: “I hope you can relay how little I care about her views on this,” he told reporters, according to The Hill.
Fetterman, who has increasingly broken with Democratic ranks to side with Trump on key issues, had signaled his intention to back a Republican bill rather than allow a government shutdown. The infighting broke out in earnest today when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer earned praise from Trump for backing the bill.
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Ocasio-Cortez, one of the furthest left voices in the House, emerged as a leader of the faction opposing the bill. On Thursday, she told reporters there was “a deep sense of outrage and betrayal” in the party over the defections.
Fetterman was unimpressed.
“I’m going to stand on what I happen to believe is the right thing to do but ask her, ‘What’s the exit plan once we shut the government down?’” he said. “What about all the millions of Americans who are going to have their lives damaged?”
“What about the ones that won’t have any paycheck? She’ll have her paycheck, though,” he added.
Despite Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts, the spending bill—which was also condemned by ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi—passed the Senate on Friday by a 62-38 margin, with 10 Democrats joining with Republicans. It needed eight Democrat defections to beat a filibuster.
CNN reported that some Democratic lawmakers are so “infuriated” with Schumer they want Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow New Yorker, to run for his Senate seat.
In the past few months, Fetterman has increasingly conveyed his openness to break with his party and work with MAGA Republicans. He was the first Democrat senator to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago after his election win.
He was also seemingly the lone major Democrat to publicly express his approval for Trump’s plan to push Palestinians out of Gaza, even advocating for sending in U.S. troops. Last week, he slammed his fellow Democrats’ “unhinged” protests during Trump’s address to Congress.
The switch-up even had some speculating that he was gearing up to switch parties, but Fetterman shot that speculation down. He called it “amateur-hour s---.”
