Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) irritated members of his own party by complaining about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) move to force a clerk to read President Donald Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill in its entirety — and then complaining that the extra time spent on Capitol Hill had resulted in him missing out on a family vacation.
Schumer forced the move on Saturday, saying, “I will object to Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill without reading it on the Senate floor. Republicans won’t tell America what’s in the bill. So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor. We will be here all night if that’s what it takes to read it.”
Fetterman made it clear that he was unhappy with the move from the start, saying, “It’s not like it’s pathetic to force the clerk to read it or anything.”
Fetterman not really happy with Dems forcing the clerk to read the bill: “it’s not like it’s pathetic to force the clerk to read it or anything”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) June 28, 2025
The delay apparently put the Pennsylvania senator off his family vacation at the beach, another development that left him none too pleased.
“Oh my God, I just want to go home,” the Pennsylvania Democrat told reporters on Monday. “I’ve already missed our entire trip to the beach, my family’s going to be back before we do … I’m going to vote no. There’s no drama that — we know [how] the votes are going to go. The only interesting votes are going to be on the margins, whether that’s Collins or Johnson, but all the Democrats, we all know how that’s going to go … I don’t think it’s really helpful to put people here until some ungodly hour.”
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???? SENATOR JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA) FUMES over extended voting on the Big Bill: “Oh my God, I just want to go home.”
“I’ve already I’ve missed our entire trip to the beach…I don’t think it’s really helpful to put people here till some ungodly hour.”pic.twitter.com/37nFBMtTLV
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 30, 2025
Critics then turned on Fetterman, complaining that he was so worried about a family vacation that he didn’t care about working for the people who elected him.
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said, “There is always dignity in fighting for the American people. We should be here fighting for the American people. I don’t care if it takes a month.”
JUST NOW: Mark Kelly speaks on John Fetterman’s comments: “There is always dignity in fighting for the American people. We should be here fighting for the American people. I don’t care if it takes a month” pic.twitter.com/f74g2yJXle
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) June 30, 2025
Criticisms aside, Fetterman is likely correct in his assessment that it will be the fringe votes that drive whether or not the One Big, Beautiful Bill makes it across the finish line.