(NewsNation) — With the government shutdown officially over, Sen. John Fetterman says Democrats had to betray their own values to stand up for Americans.
“Those are the people we fight for,” the Pennsylvania Democrat told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo while appearing on Wednesday’s show. “I understand that parts of the Democratic Party are upset to do this. But I put my country ahead of my party. I’m going to take the flack for it, because I think that’s what leadership is.”
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday 222 to 209 to secure funding and reopen the federal government after the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
The stalemate, which lasted 43 days, has furloughed hundreds of thousands of workers, stalled federal food assistance programs and reduced airport operations nationwide.
The proposal will fund military construction, Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch through Sept. 30, 2026. It would keep the rest of the government funded at its current spending levels through Jan. 30.
“We have over a month to make our argument to the nation and to convince America that this is the right thing to do for red and blue America, not just the Democrats,” added Fetterman. “Now we can devise a plan. We can work together to find — to extend those tax credits in some form. It’s unlikely it will be exactly what the Democrats set up. And we are the party that designed them to expire at the end of this year.”
“That wasn’t the Republican plan,” Fettermain said. “That was a Democratic plan, the way they designed that, when we were in the majority. And now we’re in the minority. That’s democracy.”
Democratic Party future is not socialism: Fetterman
Even with the shutdown ending, questions still surround the Democratic Party moving forward. Zohran Mamdani, who is loosely affiliated with the Democratic Socialist Party, was voted the mayor of New York City.
Asked by Chris Cuomo if socialism is the future of the party’s values, Fetterman said that wasn’t the case.
“I promise you, America’s future and my party’s future is not socialism, or kinds of outlandish, far left kinds of ideas,” he said.
“And it’s been a year since we lost the election. A lot of those parts and parts of those ideas pushed our party over the cliff. And that’s why we’re in this situation right now.”