Fetterman Reveals ‘One Thing’ That Would Make Him Leave Dem Party
Sen. John Fetterman has been a Democrat all his adult life, and he continues to mostly vote along party lines.
There are, however, a few issues on which he has voted with Republicans.
Along those lines, Fetterman has also recently revealed one “red line” that, if the Democrats ever crossed it, would force him to renounce and leave his party: open hostility toward Israel.
The Pennsylvania senator addressed that red line again this week in a hallway interview with CNN.
“I‘ve always expressed my dismay at the way the Democratic Party continues to turn its back on Israel,” he said.
Party continues to turn its back on Israel,” he said.
“So I‘ve said that publicly, like that‘s my red line. If the Democratic Party becomes officially anti-Israel, then that‘s when I would force myself out,” he said.
A CNN panel discussed Fetterman’s comments on Friday.
“I‘ll help him pack his bags. Good riddance. This is a this is this is the biggest non-threat I think I‘ve ever seen,” Luke Thomas, host of the “Morning Kombat” podcast, said.
“I realize that, I mean, to your point, you said this has been telegraphed,” he continued.
“You have seen evidence of him in his voting record, not merely on Israel, on other issues too, for example, on the government shutdown and not getting the ACA (Affordable Care Act) subsidies,” he continued.
He went on to criticize Fetterman over other positions he has taken politically before revealing the results of a Quinnipiac University poll released this week saying that in his home state, he has a 77 percent approval rating among Republicans versus a 19 percent approval rating among Democrat voters.
“That is what a Latin American president at the end of his term is getting,” Thomas added.
Earlier this week, Fetterman turned heads when he launched a joint fundraising effort with a Republican senator.
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators, despite representing opposing parties, have teamed up to create a joint fundraising committee ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 campaign cycle.
The committee, called Common Ground PA, has been registered with the Federal Election Commission.
FEC records showed that Common Ground PA listed four joint fundraising PACs: Every Vote PAC, Pennsylvania Honor, Fetterman for PA, and Friends of Dave McCormick.
“Fetterman is listed as the leadership PAC sponsor for Every Vote PAC, while McCormick is named as the leadership PAC sponsor for Pennsylvania Honor,” local media reported, citing information contained in the filing.
“This is a donor-driven effort,” Mike DeVanney, a McCormick campaign spokesman, told The Center Square.
“This group of donors value the collaboration exhibited by Senators McCormick and Fetterman for Pennsylvania and want to support both of them,” Devanney added.
Fetterman’s repeated disagreements with the Democratic Party’s progressive wing—particularly over U.S. support for Israel and the growing influence of Democratic Socialists—have fueled speculation that he could eventually switch parties as Republicans and Democrats continue to battle for control of the Senate.
The fundraising collaboration is drawing criticism already from the hard left.
“So so bad,” Fox News analyst and lefty Jessica Tarlov remarked on X.
Rick Wilson, the one-time pretend Republican who sprinted to Democrats following President Trump’s first election victory, speculated that Fetterman is “gonna flip.”
Fetterman has repeatedly distanced himself from the Democrat Party’s rising socialist wing, arguing that members of what he described as the “dirtbag left” no longer belong under the Democratic banner.
Speaking during an interview at the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize event, Fetterman said the recent success of candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America reflects the rise of a political movement that he believes is fundamentally different from the mainstream Democratic Party.
“It was a really it was a really big night for the dirtbag left. You know, last week, without a doubt,” he said.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
