WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman didn’t need an acceleration lane to get up to speed after returning to Capitol Hill this week following a two-month absence. He hit the gas as soon as he came to town.
The freshman Pennsylvania Democrat’s arrival at the Capitol for the first time since he left the hospital happened in full view of waiting TV cameras. He spoke at a news conference pushing legislation to ban lawmakers and their families from owning or trading stocks or other equities. He joined his fellow Senate Democrats at their weekly closed-door luncheon. He questioned witnesses before the Senate Banking Committee and wielded the gavel at a Senate Agriculture subcommittee hearing on food stamps.
And he made repeated treks between his office and the Senate floor to vote, wearing his signature hoodie and shorts when he wasn’t in a jacket and tie
“Mr. Fetterman would like to show he’s back on his game, that he’d like to resume his full duties,” said Glenn Totten, a longtime Democratic consultant. “But I don’t think he would be doing this if he didn’t think he could handle it. It’s his own assessment of his condition. One has to defer to his assessment.
Fetterman did not respond to a request for comment. But he told NPR that he had missed being in the Senate while he was hospitalized for clinical depression, and was overjoyed when his doctors said he was getting better
“I was just blown away,” he said. “And, now, my depression is in remission. And that's why coming back home and coming back to the Senate, and to coming back to being in the gym, being a member of the general public, has been a joy.”
Fetterman, who suffered a stroke that he said almost killed him during his Senate campaign last year, checked himself into a hospital in February to be treated for depression. He was discharged at the end of March and spent the congressional recess at home in Braddock, returning to Washington when his colleagues did.
His return was a welcome boost for a party with only a narrow two-seat majority in the Senate.
“Fetterman would not have rejoined his colleagues if he wasn’t ready physically and emotionally to jump back in,” said Mo Butler, a former chief of staff to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.. “And with a slim majority in the Senate, the Democrats need a fully engaged Senator Fetterman now more than ever.”
By going full speed ahead, Fetterman also looked to answer those who might question his ability to perform his duties. He even poked fun at false internet conspiracy theories that he has a body double.
“He’s doing what we all seek to do: He’s doing his job, and he’s doing a great job of it,” said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., a former chair of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm. “He is in full force and we are both proud and happy for him.”
Fetterman chaired his first hearing after getting back to Washington, making the case for SNAP benefits
Most Republicans have been quiet about Fetterman’s latest hospitalization and his return. Attacks on his physical fitness for office during the campaign last year did not appear to sway voters, and at times seemed to backfire.
Even so, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, last year’s losing Republican nominee for governor who is close to announcing whether he’ll run for U.S. Senate in 2024, said on Facebook on Thursday that Fetterman “does not seem like he has the cognitive understanding and ability to do his job.”
But Menendez warned that Republicans should be careful about raising such issues. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky just returned to work after missing six weeks himself as he was treated for injuries suffered after he fell at a Washington-area event.
“They have to watch when they go down that road,” Menendez said. “What we all should be doing — Republicans and Democrats alike — is applauding how Senator Fetterman met his challenge, shared it so others can learn from it, and is now doing a great job on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania.
Fetterman told NPR that he now has a national platform to talk about mental health — and will use it.
“I'm honored to have the ability to try to pay it forward, because I was blessed in my opportunities,” Fetterman said. “So if you suffer from it, you have an opportunity to get rid of it. And I didn't believe it. But right now I'm the guy that didn't believe that I could get rid of my depression. And now I did.”
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