Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has lost two top staffers as many in his orbit are becoming disillusioned by his willingness to side with Republicans on some issues, Fox News reported. This departure comes after Fetterman lost three on his communications team in the last year.
Since his election in 2022, Fetterman has ruffled feathers as he willingly crosses the aisle on some issues. His office has been plagued by staff turnover as Democrats won't tolerate dissent.
People close to the matter shared that Fetterman lost Communications Director Charlie Hills as well as Deputy Chief of Staff Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director Tré Easton. Easton released a carefully worded statement announcing the departure.
"Working for John afforded me the opportunity to build a diligent policy team from scratch. Together we created a legislative body of work that I think is a blueprint for how Democrats should be governing when they have power. I’ll forever be grateful," Easton said.
It seemed like Fetterman would be a radical leftist given his time as the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania under former Gov. Tom Wolf. However, the exact opposite has happened, as Fetterman seems to have moderated on some key issues.
This has not sat well with the die-hard Democratic staffers who work for him. Early last year, three of his communications team members abruptly left in one month's time.
Former Digital Aide Emma Mustion left to work for another progressive, while former Communications Joe Calvello and former Deputy Communication Director Nicholas Gavio went to work for another Democrats. The origin of this rift came from Fetterman's pro-Israel stance following the attack from Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
While the left was siding with the terrorist organization, Fetterman stood by America's ally. This led to another public embarrassment in August 2024 after Fetterman's newest communications head Carrie Adams told the Free Press that she dissented from her boss's stance.
"I don’t agree with him," Adams was quoted by the news outlet in black and white. Adams would drop out of sight for months until Fetterman's office finally acknowledged last month that she had left.
The more Fetterman talks, the worse it gets for Democrats, as the Pennsylvania lawmaker sounds more like Republicans. This was most evident when he co-sponsored the GOP's Laken Riley Act, which Democrats hated for cracking down on illegal immigrant crime.
"Laken Riley’s story is a tragic reminder of what’s at stake when our systems fail to protect people. No family should have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to preventable violence," Fetterman said when championing the legislation.
"Immigration is what makes our country great. I support giving authorities the tools to prevent tragedies like this one while we work on comprehensive solutions to our broken system," he added.
Fetterman has also committed the cardinal sin of supporting some of President Donald Trump's cabinet nominees while his Democratic counterparts object to all of them. Democrats will tolerate all sorts of weird behavior from their lawmakers except cooperation with the GOP.
Fetterman's habit of teaming up with Republicans for common sense legislation will be popular with voters even if it isn't so with staffers. The American people voted against the left's radicalism in Trump's decisive win, and Fetterman will benefit from distancing herself from his Democratic colleagues.
