Sen. John Fetterman (D–Pa.) issued an apology Thursday on behalf of Senate Democrats, expressing frustration with his own party’s failure to reach an agreement to reopen the federal government as the shutdown stretches into its fourth week.
Fetterman: “I’m Sorry We Can’t Get Our S**t Together”
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Fetterman said he was deeply frustrated that federal workers remain unpaid and millions of families could lose access to food assistance programs as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) runs out of funding.
“And like I said, to all of the viewers, I’m apologizing that we can’t even get our s— together and just open up our government,”
Fetterman told The New York Post.
The government shutdown, now entering its fourth week, continues amid a bitter standoff between Senate Republicans and Democrats over federal spending legislation for the new fiscal year.
The impasse threatens to disrupt SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million Americans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned. New payments, which were supposed to go out on November 1, have been halted due to the shutdown.
“An Absolute Failure”
Fetterman said he expects to see the consequences of the funding lapse firsthand in his home state of Pennsylvania.
“My wife, Giselle, she develops the Free Store in our community,” he explained. “It distributes food three times a week and her lines have already got longer. And now, I will encounter people that have no SNAP benefits starting on Saturday, and I don’t have an explanation for them.”
The senator continued, apologizing directly to struggling families:
“All I could say is I’m sorry. It’s an absolute failure — what occurred here for the last month — and now things are really going to land. Imagine being a parent with a couple kids and how you’re going to fill the refrigerator and pack their lunches when the things that they’ve depended on are gone because we can’t even agree to just open things up.”
Fetterman Criticizes His Own Party
While Fetterman has consistently voted for measures to fund and reopen the government, he criticized fellow Democrats for refusing to negotiate with the Republican majority.
“If a Democrat — you know, we’re not allowed to just open this up, then our party has bigger problems than I thought we might have already,” he said. “That’s not controversial. Pay everybody. You have our workers here borrowing over a third of a billion dollars to pay their own bills.”
He concluded bluntly:
“It’s a failure.”
Schumer Blames Trump as Democrats Face Backlash
Fetterman’s apology came a day after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) lashed out at former President Donald Trump in a fiery social media post, as Democrats face growing criticism for prolonging the shutdown.
“Donald Trump is a vindictive and heartless man. Never before in American history has a president cut off SNAP during a shutdown, including Trump in his first term,” Schumer said.
“But now he is manufacturing a hunger crisis to bludgeon the American people so he doesn’t have to fix healthcare.”
However, budget authority lies with Congress, not the President. Lawmakers must write and pass spending bills before the President can sign or veto them.
Schumer and Senate Democrats have reportedly insisted on including Obamacare subsidies and nearly $1.5 trillion in new spending in any funding bill — a demand Republicans have refused until a clean continuing resolution is passed to reopen the government.
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