Pennsylvania freshman Sen. John Fetterman (D) made it clear Monday morning that he wasn’t enthusiastic about slogging through a marathon series of votes on President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” complaining that the process was cutting into his beach time, even though the bill is expected to pass regardless.
“Oh my God, I just want to go home. I’ve already … I’ve missed our entire trip to the beach,” he told reporters.
He mentioned that his family would already have returned from the beach by the time he finished at the Capitol in D.C., The Hill reported.
“There’s no drama,” he said. “The only interesting votes are going to be on the margin,” he added, citing a couple of GOP colleagues who are holdouts.
“I don’t think it’s really helpful to put people here until some ungodly hour,” Fetterman, who ultimately voted ‘no’ on the bill, added.
Senators began voting shortly after 9:30 a.m. EDT Monday on a marathon series of procedural motions and amendments expected to continue late into the night or even early Tuesday morning.
Lawmakers from both parties are eager to leave Washington, as the start of the weeklong July Fourth holiday recess was delayed by several days to complete work on the legislation, The Hill noted further, adding:
Senators had to stay up late to read the revised 940-page Senate bill, which was released late Friday, a few minutes before midnight.
Then they had to come to the Capitol on Saturday and wait around until after 11 p.m. to finish a vote on a motion to proceed to the bill.
Senate floor staff spent the rest of Saturday night and most of Sunday reading through the bill — an arduous process that stretched out for more than 16 hours.
Senators finally started voting on amendments Monday morning, with no end-time in sight.
One House member from Fetterman’s home state had some choice words for the junior senator following his comments.
“If you are here, you are damned lucky and privileged to be here. You should want to be here, and if you don’t want to be here, leave,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) said in an interview with The Bulwark posted on Tuesday.
Boyle added that while he does not minimize the sacrifices made by lawmakers, he said he huddled with his young daughter to claim that “this week will determine whether or not millions and millions of Americans get to keep their health care.”
“She’s only 11, she got that,” he said.
Fetterman has faced growing criticism from fellow Democrats for frequently breaking with party lines, even as President Donald Trump praised him on Friday as “the most sensible” Democratic senator, despite the fact that he voted with his party to reject the Big, Beautiful Bill.
“To me, I think this is one of the most important things I will ever do, full stop. There is no place I would rather be than right here, right now, and if I can make a difference and stop this bill from happening, I will do whatever it takes,” Boyle added in the interview. “That should be the attitude, frankly, of every Democratic member of the House and Senate.”
In terms of forcing senators to remain in DC longer, Fetterman’s own party leaders are largely responsible for that.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a name change for President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” just before it cleared the upper house of Congress, and that came after he forced the chamber to hear the entire 940-page bill read aloud prior to votes.
While Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., chaired the Senate, Schumer raised a point of order against lines three through five on the first page of the legislative plan, which read, “SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act.’”
Schumer stated that the bill’s title violated Section 313 B1A of the 1974 Congressional Budget Act, sometimes known as the “Byrd Rule.”
Ricketts stated that the point of order was upheld, which means the wording would be removed from the measure.