Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has attended only 16% of committee meetings and produced one law, records show, as ex-staffers describe him ducking duties.

Newser summarized a Philadelphia Inquirer review by Sam Janesch of Sen. John Fetterman’s Senate schedule and record, and the numbers land hard.

In the last two years, Fetterman attended 16% of committee meetings. Across nearly four years in office, he has seen one bill become law. He logged 31 public appearances or publicized meetings in Pennsylvania over that same stretch.

Pennsylvanians sent him to Washington to show up, legislate, and face constituents. The record Janesch examined shows something far thinner.

McCormick covered more ground in 11 days than Fetterman did in years

The contrast with his Republican colleague is blunt. GOP Sen. Dave McCormick visited 32 Pennsylvania locations over 11 days in August.

That short swing topped Fetterman’s nearly four-year total of 31 public appearances or publicized meetings in the state. One senator ran a dense home-state circuit. The other did not.

Fetterman has also built a tight alliance with McCormick while casting more votes that side with Republicans. That drift has already shown up in concrete Senate fights, including when Republicans and Fetterman blocked a State Department probe order tied to West Bank American deaths.

He has taken donations from big GOP donors as well. He has hinted at seeking another six-year term. And he has rejected rumors of crossing the aisle even as the working relationship with Republicans grows more visible.

Former staffers describe midweek exits and rare constituent time

Ex-staffers, speaking to the Inquirer reporting summarized this week, said Fetterman ducks routine duties. They said he leaves Washington midweek to stay near his parents’ home. They said he rarely meets with constituents. They also said he privately derides Philadelphia while representing the state that includes it.

One former staffer put the daily friction in plain terms.

"It was like arguing with a toddler every day."

That is not a policy dispute. It is a workplace description of a senator who, by the attendance and appearance counts above, was often elsewhere when the ordinary work of the job was on the calendar.

Voters can weigh a maverick brand against the roll call. Fetterman’s renegade reputation has long sat beside a record that still often tracks his party, a tension examined when his renegade image collided with Democratic loyalty on key votes.

GOP donors and Republican-aligned votes follow the same pattern

The Inquirer account ties the light schedule to a political turn: more votes with Republicans, the McCormick alliance, and money from major GOP donors. Fetterman still says he is not switching parties.

He has repeated that line even as Democratic patience thins. He again drew notice when he insisted he will not join the GOP while keeping the cross-aisle posture that frustrates his own side.

Party leaders have already turned on him after public breaks, including the episode in which Democrats turned on Fetterman after he crossed the aisle at a GOP event. The new schedule figures give those fights a different backdrop: less time in committee, few home-state stops, and one enacted bill.

On foreign policy he has stood apart too. He was the only Democrat to reject a bid to limit presidential authority in a recent Iran fight, a break catalogued when Fetterman alone among Democrats rejected the curb on Trump’s military authority.

Trump says Fetterman performs better as a Republican

President Donald Trump has noticed the same drift. On Saturday he told reporters he wants Fetterman in the GOP.

The Associated Press carried the line.

"I'd love to see [Fetterman] as a Republican. He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat."

Trump and Fetterman were in the same frame earlier this year. On Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, after the State of the Union address in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol, Trump passed Fetterman while departing, an AP photo moment that now sits beside the attendance math and the staff accounts.

Fetterman has rejected the party-switch talk. The donor list, the McCormick partnership, and the rising share of Republican-aligned votes are on the record anyway. So are the 16% committee figure, the single law, and the 31 Pennsylvania appearances in nearly four years.

Senate work is not a vibe. It is hearings, markups, constituent meetings, and bills that survive both chambers and a signature. On those measures, the Inquirer tally Newser relayed is sparse.

Pennsylvania does not get better roads, safer streets, or a working border from a senator who clears a fraction of committee sessions and treats the home state like a rare stop. Show up, or explain the empty chair.