Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is back in the hospital according to his chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, who released a statement Thursday afternoon.
“Last night, Senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression. While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks.
“On Monday, John was evaluated by Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress. Yesterday, Dr. Monahan recommended inpatient care at Walter Reed. John agreed, and he is receiving treatment on a voluntary basis.
“After examining John, the doctors at Walter Reed told us that John is getting the care he needs, and will soon be back to himself.”
The announcement comes a week after Fetterman was discharged from George Washington University Hospital, also in Washington, D.C., where he was under observation for several days after experiencing lightheadedness last Wednesday night during the Senate Democrat retreat.
During that visit, doctors ruled out a stroke and found no evidence of seizures.
It was a concern because the freshman Democrat senator suffered a stroke on the campaign trail the weekend before the May primary. The stroke was caused by a clot from his heart being in an atrial fibrillation rhythm for too long, he said in a statement at the time.
The stroke caused Fetterman to remain in Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital for more than a week and did not immediately return to the campaign trail. This caused speculation about his fitness to serve in Congress, a concern that persists today.
Once he did return to campaigning, Fetterman’s speech pattern changed. He was less confident and had halting speech. His campaign explained that he had auditory processing issues. He garbled words, dropped words from sentences, and needed closed captioning during a political debate. In recent days, Fetterman often works from prepared remarks.
This week Fetterman voted to confirm three judicial nominees including Gina R. Mendez-Miro, of Puerto Rico, to be United States District Judge for the District of Puerto Rico; Lindsay C. Jenkins, of Illinois, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois; and Matthew L. Garcia, of New Mexico, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico.
He also voted to advance the nomination of Adrienne C. Nelson, of Oregon, to be United States District Judge for the District of Oregon and Judge Cindy Chung to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers all of Pennsylvania.