The state of Pennsylvania made history in a unique way previously with their decision to elect a dead man back to office then simultaneously electing a man suffering from permanent brain damage for the senate. However, that unheard of feat only tells part of the story. Many months later and the state is still trying to grapple with the bureaucratic ramifications of these unprecedented elections that should sound major alarms.
Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s high number of missed senate roll call votes in the last month should be extremely concerning for voters. Since he checked himself into a hospital for the treatment of clinical depression, he has missed 83% of senate roll calls votes.
Fox News reports, government watchdog GovTrack says Fetterman missed 53 of the 64 roll call votes held in February and March. Compared to all current senators, his average of missed votes is much higher than the lifetime average of 2.3%.
On Wednesday, Fetterman will mark six weeks since he first checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on February 15, and there is no clear indication of when he will return to work. Throughout his hospital stay, his office has provided periodic updates, including that he is progressing towards a full recovery and has been able to do some work.
As of March 6, Fetterman’s chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, posted on Twitter that the senator “will be back soon,” and included pictures of the two sitting together working from a table at the hospital.
Last week, Fetterman’s communications director, Joe Calvello, also said Fetterman would be back “soon,” but didn’t give any details beyond that it would be “at least over a week.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s office for comment, but his staff is reportedly filling gaps in his absence where needed in order to keep the office running.
Earlier this month, Jentleson told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that staff would likely perform the same amount of work without Fetterman, and noted that between a third and half of staff were policy experts.
Some Pennsylvanian voters on CNN have even called for the senator to resign.
The fact that senate democrats aren’t asking for Fetterman to resign is typical. If this was a republican senator they would repeatedly call for the senator to resign. Not that republicans would be stupid enough to elect a brain dead person.. The people of Pennsylvania must come together if they want to be represented the way they’re supposed to but since not enough are vocalizing their frustration, it’s assumed they’re okay with what’s going on.
Let’s continue this conversation, in the comments below.
