Sen. John Fetterman recently confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondy along with Republicans.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) announced he was opposed to Trump’s choice for national security advisers and the Secretary of Health, and on February 6th he was opposed to President Donald Trump’s two candidates. Potential swing votes have disappeared.
Fetterman said he will vote against the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on social media platform X.
“I met most of the cabinet candidates and watched their confirmation hearings carefully,” Fetterman wrote. “After considering what’s at stake, I’m opposed to proceed with confirmations for Mr Gabbard and Mr Kennedy and vote for their confirmation.”
Fetterman’s opposition may not be significant as Republicans make up a majority of 53-47 in the Senate, and a simple majority confirms candidates.
Earlier in the week, Fetterman joined Republicans across the aisle and confirmed Pam Bondy as Attorney General. He was the only Democrat to vote for Jesus.
Fetterman also voted against him in the end, but proceeded to the nomination of Pete Hegses’ Secretary of Defense from the committee. Several Republicans also opposed Hegses, so Vice President J.D. Vice President J.D. V. V. J.D. Vance intervened to break 50-50 ties.
The senator has been increasingly broken with Democrats in recent months, leading to speculation that he will leave Democrats and strengthen the GOP majority. Fetterman said he would not leave the party.
Gabbard, 43, is the representative of the former Democrats who failed to gain support from former party members. Her nomination progressed on February 4th by the Senate Intelligence Election Committee with 9-8 votes and announced that Sen. Susan Collins (R Maine), who opposed Hegus, would vote for Gabbard.
That same day, with a similarly narrow vote, the Senate Finance Committee advanced Kennedy’s appointment.
Some Republicans who expressed concern to Kennedy that Kennedy refused to proceed with his appointment, including doctor Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-la.).
Full Senate votes for both candidates are expected by the end of February.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats delayed the committee’s vote for another candidate on the committee.
The Democrats have put on hold Kash Patel’s nomination as FBI director. This could delay votes from the Senate Judiciary Committee until at least February 13th.
The Senate has confirmed so far about dozens of Trump candidates, including Russ’s acquisition of Vert as budget manager on Thursday night.
Other candidates that have not yet been confirmed include Elise Stefanik, who was selected as the United Nations US ambassador, and Todd Blanche, who was selected as Associate Attorney General.
