Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Fetterman's a no as Senate Republicans debate new voting restrictions [View all]
Last edited Thu Mar 19, 2026, 11:00 AM - Edit history (2)
UPDATED TO ADD WORKING LINK
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2026/03/18/fetterman-congress-trump-elections-voting/stories/202603180091
Archived (no paywall) link: https://archive.ph/u8BIL
The Pennsylvania senator sometimes crosses party lines. Not this time.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman broke with his party and voted to fund the federal government, and to oppose legislation limiting President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. He has been an unabashed supporter of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, and of Trump’s capture of Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro.
But as the Senate debates legislation to put new restrictions on voting in advance of this fall’s midterm elections — where control of Congress is at stake — Mr. Fetterman is aligned with his party against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require people to prove their citizenship and bring photo identification to the polls.
“He's in office as a Democrat,” said Lew Irwin, a political scientist at Duquesne University. “He was elected as a Democrat. This is where he shares the perspective of his fellow Democrats that this is a solution in search of the problem.”
... [ snip] ...
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who successfully fought against Trump’s bogus charges of voter fraud in the 2020 election as attorney general, told reporters last month that he opposed “the idea that we would turn over our elections to Donald Trump, given his track record of election denialism, given his track record of taking me to court 43 different times during the 2020 election, to try and overturn the will of the people here in Pennsylvania.”
"By the way, he went 0 and 43 I went, 43 and 0, and we had a free and fair, safe and secure election,” Mr. Shapiro said. “The last person who should be running our elections in the United States is Donald Trump.”
Under current Senate rules, 60 votes are needed for passage, and Republicans have only 53 seats. Trump is pushing Republicans to kill the filibuster, doing away with the 60-vote threshold, which they can do with just 50 votes.
- more at link -
But as the Senate debates legislation to put new restrictions on voting in advance of this fall’s midterm elections — where control of Congress is at stake — Mr. Fetterman is aligned with his party against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require people to prove their citizenship and bring photo identification to the polls.
“He's in office as a Democrat,” said Lew Irwin, a political scientist at Duquesne University. “He was elected as a Democrat. This is where he shares the perspective of his fellow Democrats that this is a solution in search of the problem.”
... [ snip] ...
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who successfully fought against Trump’s bogus charges of voter fraud in the 2020 election as attorney general, told reporters last month that he opposed “the idea that we would turn over our elections to Donald Trump, given his track record of election denialism, given his track record of taking me to court 43 different times during the 2020 election, to try and overturn the will of the people here in Pennsylvania.”
"By the way, he went 0 and 43 I went, 43 and 0, and we had a free and fair, safe and secure election,” Mr. Shapiro said. “The last person who should be running our elections in the United States is Donald Trump.”
Under current Senate rules, 60 votes are needed for passage, and Republicans have only 53 seats. Trump is pushing Republicans to kill the filibuster, doing away with the 60-vote threshold, which they can do with just 50 votes.
Update to add working link: My apologies for the broken link, however this link on top works now!
22 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read