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Fetterman rejects ex-staffer accusations
September 10, 2026
Sen. John Fetterman dismissed former aides who accused him of indifference toward his work, while Pennsylvania Democrats say they are not asking him to campaign.
John Fetterman is a first-term Democratic senator from Pennsylvania who has crossed swords with his party since late 2023, backing Israel's war against Hamas and some of President Donald Trump's priorities.
Key facts
- Four additional seats for Republicans in the election, combined with a switch by the senator, would return the chamber to an even 50-50 division, handing the GOP control and leaving tie votes to Vice President JD Vance.
- A 2024 letter written by Adam Jentleson, a former chief of staff to the senator, that flagged worries about his conduct and mental health was reported last year by New York Magazine.
- Irritation on the party's left flank first surfaced toward the end of 2023, when he backed Israel in its war against Hamas.
- When Democrats discuss 2028, the conversation tends to land on other names instead — Reps.
CNN reports that Fetterman has answered former employees who say he neglected the job and skipped meetings with constituents, calling them disgruntled staffers and their claims smears aimed at his reputation. He spoke up over the weekend, CNN reports, once the Wall Street Journal set out text messages and the accounts of people who once worked for him, whose view is that he cares more about attention from conservative media than about a senator's duties. One of those messages, from September of last year, has him complaining to staff about repeated meetings with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Politico turns the same episode toward his colleagues, reporting that Senate Democrats are declining to join the criticism, and the Journal frames it as a senator with thin appetite for the office.
ABC News reports what this costs him in Pennsylvania. He has said nothing about campaigning in the state this year, and party figures there say they have no plans to ask. Lori McFarland, who chairs the Democratic Party in Lehigh County, expects him to do the party more harm than good in a county where Democrats want to take a congressional seat and a state Senate seat. J.J. Abbott, a Democratic strategist, says the antagonism looks like something Fetterman enjoys. ABC News puts his favorable rating among registered Democrats in the state at about 2 in 10, citing a New York Times poll from August, and reports that a spokesperson for Bob Harvie, who is challenging Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, has made no request for his help either. Politico and the Journal carry the same material.
Nothing in the record splits. All four outlets describe the same accusations, the same answer from Fetterman, the votes and hearings he missed last year, and a state party organizing around his absence. CNN adds that Pennsylvania's Republican senator, Dave McCormick, spoke up for him on Sunday, promised further bipartisan work with him, and wrote on X that disloyal staff and forces on the left are using anonymous leaks against him. What the account lacks is Fetterman's own side beyond his weekend statement: ABC News reports that his office and his political adviser left messages seeking comment unanswered.
He said, “Pennsylvanians elected John Fetterman as a Democrat to the United States Senate. They expect him to be a Democrat in these two years he has left in this term.”
Still developing
The campaign trail is where Fetterman has gone quiet: he has not spoken to whether he will appear in Pennsylvania this year, his return to the stump and any appetite for another term in 2028 were both unclear at the time of draft, and messages to his office and political adviser went unanswered. Party-switching he rules out, and has said so repeatedly, though a pickup of four seats in the election would put a Senate at 50-50 and Vice President JD Vance in a position to break ties.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos — Sen. John Fetterman's isolation from Democrats grows stark in Pennsylvania
- CNN — Exclusive: Fetterman blasts ‘disgruntled staffers’ and ‘smears’ after report details apathy toward his work
- Politico — ‘Waste of energy’: Senate Democrats are sitting out the John Fetterman pile-on