Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman stunned his own party on Thursday by slamming Senate Democrats for playing political games with government funding, calling their opposition to the GOP spending bill “total theater.” His remarks, posted on X, directly undercut Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s claim that Democrats are unified in their opposition to the GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), which would prevent a partial government shutdown set to take effect Friday at midnight.
With the clock ticking, Fetterman made it clear that he had no patience for the political posturing happening in Washington.
“Shut the government down, plunge the country into chaos, risk a recession or exchange cloture for a 30-day CR that 100% fails,” Fetterman wrote. “The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes. Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument.”
Fetterman’s sharp rebuke puts him at odds with Schumer and the progressive wing of his party, who are pushing for a Democratic-led stopgap measure instead of the GOP-backed bill. Schumer has insisted that Democrats will vote against the House resolution and has tried to shift blame onto Republicans, but Fetterman’s comments suggest that even within Democratic ranks, there is little confidence in the party’s shutdown strategy.
Shut the government down, plunge the country into chaos, risk a recession
or
Exchange cloture for a 30 day CR that 100% fails.
The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes.
Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument. pic.twitter.com/U2gtVkp6yS
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) March 13, 2025
Republicans have already labeled the looming shutdown the “Schumer Shutdown,” accusing Democrats of staging a political stunt to appease their far-left base.
“It seems to be a shutdown aimed at the drama that the Democrats need to show to their far-left wing,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The people who are for open borders, the people who are for biological men playing in girls’ sports—they’re trying to show them that they’re putting up a fight and they’re willing to make the country suffer because the Democrats are held hostage by the far-left wing of their party.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took it even further, telling the DCNF that Democrats are “engaged in performance art because they’re having a full-on psychological crisis.”
Schumer, however, has doubled down, arguing that the GOP’s CR is “partisan” because it was drafted without input from congressional Democrats. He has urged Senate Republicans to consider a 30-day stopgap measure put forward by Democratic appropriators, though that proposal appears to be a nonstarter with GOP leadership.
The political drama comes as Senate Democrats’ approval ratings are tanking and their hopes of regaining control of the chamber in 2026 took a major hit this week. On Wednesday, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced she would retire rather than seek reelection, creating a prime pickup opportunity for Senate Republicans to expand their current 53-47 majority.
Fetterman’s decision to break with his party isn’t entirely surprising. He has consistently positioned himself as a pragmatic Democrat willing to buck party leadership, particularly when it comes to working-class issues. His support for the GOP’s CR reflects his belief that avoiding a shutdown should take precedence over partisan maneuvering.
