Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s frequent criticisms of the Democratic Party have led many pundits to wonder if there’s a chance he could switch parties in the near future.
Unsurprisingly, Republicans would like to see that happen.
According to Politico, Republicans have been quietly courting Fetterman to either join their party or become independent in order to ensure their party stays in control of the Senate after this year’s midterm elections.
Even President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to see Fetterman switch sides. Fox News personality Sean Hannity told the senator in March that Trump promised Fetterman would get financial support from the GOP if he did so.
“‘Your job is to tell him: He’s gonna run as a Republican, he’s gonna have our full support, more money than he ever dreamed of, and he’s gonna win big,’” Hannity quoted Trump as saying.
But in spite of his growing friendship with fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick and Alaska Sen. Katie Britt, Fetterman has repeatedly said he has no interest in defecting.
“I’m not changing,” Fetterman said to Politico when asked. “I’m a Democrat, and I’m staying one,” adding that he’d “be a (expletive) Republican.”
Fetterman has voted against a number of big Republican initiatives, including the One Big Beautiful Bill, and noted that Republicans who break rank with Trump rarely get treated well.
“Committed conservatives like (Bill) Cassidy and (Thom) Tillis are getting pushed out of their seats,” he said to Politico.
Yet, while Fetterman noted he votes with his party 93% of the time, he has broken ranks with Democrats on a number of issues, supporting the ongoing war in Iran, voting to advance Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination for Homeland Security Secretary, argued in favor of Trump’s ballroom construction project, and shown unwavering support for Israel following that country’s attacks in Gaza.
He’s also drawn the ire of Democrat voters in Pennsylvania for visiting President Donald Trump in Florida shortly after the 2024 election, supporting the administration’s immigration policies and opposing a government shutdown to force the GOP to negotiate on ICE funding and reforms.
During an appearance on Fox News on May 1, Fetterman criticized what he called a “socialist shift” in the Democratic Party, arguing that current activism was turning the party into “an orgy of socialism.”
“I am an absolutely proud pro-union Democrat, but the kinds of mess that you see are showing up in many of them. That is the worst impulses that our party continues,” he said.
Speculation over whether Fetterman might switch parties has been going on for a while now, and several Democrats are rumored to be considering challenging him in 2028, including former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb who competed against Fetterman in 2022.
“We’re still trying to wrestle with what happens if John Fetterman switched party and becomes a Republican,” Pennsylvania GOP chairman and state Sen. Greg Rothman told The Center Square back in April.
When asked by Politico about his relationship to the other members of his party, Fetterman said, “They don’t mistreat me, but I think increasingly they’re suspicious or kinda standoffish.”