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TheProle

(4,077 posts)
Wed May 13, 2026, 04:24 PM 10 hrs ago

John Fetterman Single-Handedly Tanks Effort to Rein Trump in on Iran

Senator John Fetterman was the deciding vote Wednesday to dismiss the Democrats’ seventh attempt to advance a resolution under the War Powers Act to stop President Donald Trump’s disastrous military campaign in Iran.

It was the first time the Senate has voted on a measure to end the war in Iran since the conflict crossed the 60-day deadline. After that point, the War Powers Act requires the president to withdraw his forces unless Congress declares war or approves an extension. The motion failed by a single vote, at 49–50.

Three Republicans—Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul—broke with party leadership to support the measure.

It should come as no surprise that Fetterman was the sole Democrat to vote against the measure, as he’s expressed outspoken support for acting against Iran, which he called “the real enemy, the real threat, the real danger.” But in siding with Republicans (and Israel), Fetterman is acting against not only the will of his party but the wills of his constituents. A March poll found that Pennsylvania voters held a -16 net disapproval rating of America’s recent military strikes in Iran.


https://newrepublic.com/post/210380/john-fetterman-tanks-war-powers-donald-trump-iran
60 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
John Fetterman Single-Handedly Tanks Effort to Rein Trump in on Iran (Original Post) TheProle 10 hrs ago OP
Vote Out Fetterman ZDU 10 hrs ago #1
He's up for re-election in 2028. Pinback 10 hrs ago #4
Vote his ass out ASAP ZDU 10 hrs ago #6
He knows he will be voted out so he's angling for Republican voters oldmanlynn 4 hrs ago #53
A fucking war monger.. who knew? mountain grammy 10 hrs ago #2
Quotable quote: TheProle 10 hrs ago #3
That May 13th, 2022 (Friday the 13th btw) stroke perma-wrecked him. Celerity 9 hrs ago #15
AIPAC HootieMcBoob 8 hrs ago #27
Netanyahu Gives John Fetterman Silver-Plated Pager as Ghoulish Gift Celerity 8 hrs ago #31
That WAS a terror attack by Israel, pure and simple. AloeVera 4 hrs ago #54
yes it was nt Celerity 4 hrs ago #55
He's lost his mind. spanone 2 hrs ago #60
Sure can't figure that guy out. Heard him say on TV the other day that allegorical oracle 10 hrs ago #5
Kickbacks or kompromat /nt dickthegrouch 10 hrs ago #7
100%. He's bought and paid for. Probably was out of the gate. We need to vet candidates with an iron fist n/t Cheezoholic 9 hrs ago #14
From progressive darling to a Trump enabling war monger. Nixie 10 hrs ago #8
He's not the first. Is Gabbard still in this MAGAt administration? W_HAMILTON 3 hrs ago #57
It's past time to be able to recall. Blue Full Moon 10 hrs ago #9
Pennsylvania has no recall law FBaggins 9 hrs ago #17
Needs to be changed. Blue Full Moon 8 hrs ago #26
It wouldn't make a difference FBaggins 7 hrs ago #38
The insanity continues! Pisces 10 hrs ago #10
Fetterman rso 9 hrs ago #11
With the numbers ( 49-50 ) LakeVermilion 9 hrs ago #12
Regardless that still leaves 49 others who could have voted differently EdmondDantes_ 6 hrs ago #48
It gave cover for Collins. n/t demmiblue 9 hrs ago #16
;-{)........ Goonch 9 hrs ago #13
"the real enemy, the real threat, the real danger." Aviation Pro 9 hrs ago #18
I look forward to the day when Trump throws Fetterman under the bus, like he does everybody else. OGBuzz 9 hrs ago #19
Fetterman JoseBalow 9 hrs ago #20
I think even Susan Collins, the Libertarian, and Murkowski supported the resolution AZProgressive 9 hrs ago #21
I believe he's as dumb as Trump Bobstandard 9 hrs ago #22
May I say?? FAWK HIM!!!!!! a kennedy 9 hrs ago #23
I'll say it for you. Fuck him! paleotn 7 hrs ago #39
He's a pos. That is the best thing I can say about him. 58Sunliner 9 hrs ago #24
If he'd voted with us, they would have just held open the vote until Pete Ricketts could show up. So 50-50, VP breaks it krawhitham 8 hrs ago #25
Rand Paul is the only one that would not have flipped. LuvLoogie 8 hrs ago #29
Point is he would have voted WITH Democrats,not against Democrats Bengus81 8 hrs ago #35
This message was self-deleted by its author Wiz Imp 6 hrs ago #47
That fucking motherfucking fuck Blue Owl 8 hrs ago #28
Ditto Joinfortmill 8 hrs ago #34
I believe the flipping of Fetterman is based on what we don't know. no_hypocrisy 8 hrs ago #30
Fetterman will be unemployed in about two years and his new republican friends will be of no help Mysterian 8 hrs ago #32
Yup, he's a cautionary tale. Joinfortmill 8 hrs ago #33
This is what DINO do. republianmushroom 8 hrs ago #36
Ricketts of Nebraska did not vote because he was unavailable this morning. Wiz Imp 8 hrs ago #37
Irrelevant. He voted with the Republicans. That's more than enough. paleotn 7 hrs ago #40
At this point can Fetterman even be considered a Democrat? groundloop 7 hrs ago #41
Seems to be one in every session. paleotn 7 hrs ago #42
Fetterman has killed nothing. Almost all his bad votes relate in some way to his insane support of Israel. Wiz Imp 6 hrs ago #45
This message was self-deleted by its author Wiz Imp 6 hrs ago #44
Granted. He didn't really swing things. But he still voted with the Pukes. paleotn 6 hrs ago #46
If we take the Senate in November... gonna need an extra victory because Fetterman will bolt, 100% WarGamer 7 hrs ago #43
That would take winning a "likely R" seat FBaggins 6 hrs ago #49
Well... GiqueCee 4 hrs ago #50
Fetterman is a Democrat. Groundhawg 4 hrs ago #51
I'm pretty sure everyone here knows that. TheProle 3 hrs ago #58
Can Pennsylvania please fire this fucking clown already? Initech 4 hrs ago #52
That boy has got to go Bayard 4 hrs ago #56
It's too bad voters can't recall Senators Seasider 3 hrs ago #59

Pinback

(13,645 posts)
4. He's up for re-election in 2028.
Wed May 13, 2026, 04:37 PM
10 hrs ago

Nov. 2026 has to take priority for now, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a primary challenger emerge in the next couple of years.

oldmanlynn

(840 posts)
53. He knows he will be voted out so he's angling for Republican voters
Wed May 13, 2026, 10:37 PM
4 hrs ago

The man should be shipped to an institution and shunned for life

TheProle

(4,077 posts)
3. Quotable quote:
Wed May 13, 2026, 04:35 PM
10 hrs ago
We live in a complex, ever-changing world that requires American leadership and diplomacy. But unfortunately throughout the course of my lifetime, we've followed the direction of too many saber-rattling 'experts' out there who have led us down the road toward costly wars of choice. And it's those costly wars of choice that have put too many American men and women into harm's way.

We should be engaging in preventative diplomacy, and proactively working with other countries to improve relations -- not just reaching out to them when things go south. We should embrace a foreign policy framework that will not bankrupt future generations and allow us to hit our own domestic priorities
. - John Fetterman, April 2016

Celerity

(54,824 posts)
31. Netanyahu Gives John Fetterman Silver-Plated Pager as Ghoulish Gift
Wed May 13, 2026, 06:39 PM
8 hrs ago
The Israeli prime minister previously gave Donald Trump one too.

https://gizmodo.com/netanyahu-gives-john-fetterman-silver-plated-pager-as-ghoulish-gift-2000578432


Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Sen. John Fetterman on Wednesday. And Bibi’s gift to the senator from Pennsylvania is likely to raise more than a few eyebrows. Fetterman was presented with a silver-plated pager, apparently in reference to the terror attack orchestrated by Israel that targeted thousands of Hezbollah members in Lebanon late last year using pagers rigged with explosives.

“This is a silver-plated beeper. The real beeper is like one-tenth the weight. But it changes history,” Netanyahu told Fetterman. Fetterman’s response to Netanyahu while holding the ghoulish memento was one of tremendous thanks. “When that story broke, I was like, ‘Oh, I love it. I love it.’ And now it’s like, thank you for this,” Fetterman said.



Israel’s terror attack killed at least 42 people, including an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old, and injured about 3,250 more, including 200 critically. Israel built the pagers themselves in a major operation, producing the devices through a manufacturer in Taiwan and selling them to Hezbollah without any indication they were behind the deal. The attack was denounced by experts at the UN as a violation of international law.

“These attacks violate the human right to life, absent any indication that the victims posed an imminent lethal threat to anyone else at the time,” the group of experts said in a statement at the time. “Such attacks require prompt, independent investigation to establish the truth and enable accountability for the crime of murder.” Netanyahu gave President Donald Trump two similar commemorative pagers back in February, one gold and another described as “normal.” Elon Musk, the billionaire oligarch currently destroying the U.S. federal government, appeared to be pictured near one of the pagers in the Oval Office shortly after it was given to Trump.

snip

AloeVera

(4,379 posts)
54. That WAS a terror attack by Israel, pure and simple.
Wed May 13, 2026, 10:43 PM
4 hrs ago

One of many of course, but this one received such accolades, cheering and was the butt of many jokes. It was heartbreaking as well as horrifying - both the attack and the reactions. That Fetterman found it funny, beaming beside Netanyahu, tells you everything about him.

allegorical oracle

(6,568 posts)
5. Sure can't figure that guy out. Heard him say on TV the other day that
Wed May 13, 2026, 04:37 PM
10 hrs ago

he votes with Dems more than 90 percent of the time. But from what I can see, it's never when I want him to.

Cheezoholic

(3,894 posts)
14. 100%. He's bought and paid for. Probably was out of the gate. We need to vet candidates with an iron fist n/t
Wed May 13, 2026, 05:47 PM
9 hrs ago

Nixie

(18,100 posts)
8. From progressive darling to a Trump enabling war monger.
Wed May 13, 2026, 04:49 PM
10 hrs ago

Let’s hope he’s not enabling others to follow this con job.

Blue Full Moon

(3,642 posts)
9. It's past time to be able to recall.
Wed May 13, 2026, 04:54 PM
10 hrs ago

No waiting for the end of the term. Too much damage is at stake.

FBaggins

(28,751 posts)
17. Pennsylvania has no recall law
Wed May 13, 2026, 05:53 PM
9 hrs ago

More importantly, no state has the ability to recall a US senator.

Removal requires a 2/3 vote of the Senate.

FBaggins

(28,751 posts)
38. It wouldn't make a difference
Wed May 13, 2026, 07:18 PM
7 hrs ago

The constitution does not permit states to undo their selection of senators. The senate itself can remove him (but isn't going to).

rso

(2,679 posts)
11. Fetterman
Wed May 13, 2026, 05:09 PM
9 hrs ago

It does not take away from Fetterman’s betrayal, but his was not the crucial vote as a 50-50 tie would have been decided by Vance.

LakeVermilion

(1,632 posts)
12. With the numbers ( 49-50 )
Wed May 13, 2026, 05:39 PM
9 hrs ago

I believe that if Fetterman changed his vote, the result would be 50-49.

EdmondDantes_

(2,038 posts)
48. Regardless that still leaves 49 others who could have voted differently
Wed May 13, 2026, 08:17 PM
6 hrs ago

Not really single handed. That lets a lot of Republicans off the hook for their votes. Clearly a couple voted for our side.

Yeah Fetterman's vote sucked, but so did 49 other votes.

Aviation Pro

(15,753 posts)
18. "the real enemy, the real threat, the real danger."
Wed May 13, 2026, 05:54 PM
9 hrs ago

Is this lurch stupid or lobotomized? The real foreign threat has been and always will be Russia.

These people are too stupid to breath.

OGBuzz

(550 posts)
19. I look forward to the day when Trump throws Fetterman under the bus, like he does everybody else.
Wed May 13, 2026, 05:55 PM
9 hrs ago

AZProgressive

(29,965 posts)
21. I think even Susan Collins, the Libertarian, and Murkowski supported the resolution
Wed May 13, 2026, 06:04 PM
9 hrs ago

We made it thru the first Trump term without capitulating from the likes of Fetterman and we were able to defeat him because of that strategy.

I think what Fetterman is doing is not helping Democrats or effectively opposing Trump.

krawhitham

(5,082 posts)
25. If he'd voted with us, they would have just held open the vote until Pete Ricketts could show up. So 50-50, VP breaks it
Wed May 13, 2026, 06:17 PM
8 hrs ago

LuvLoogie

(8,888 posts)
29. Rand Paul is the only one that would not have flipped.
Wed May 13, 2026, 06:33 PM
8 hrs ago

So Fetterman absolutely was covering for Collins and Murkowski.

Stroke? Perhaps. I'll chalk it up to narcissism. A Marvel comic character. The Senator.

Bengus81

(10,347 posts)
35. Point is he would have voted WITH Democrats,not against Democrats
Wed May 13, 2026, 07:05 PM
8 hrs ago

That IS the point here.........

Response to Bengus81 (Reply #35)

no_hypocrisy

(55,317 posts)
30. I believe the flipping of Fetterman is based on what we don't know.
Wed May 13, 2026, 06:35 PM
8 hrs ago

Specifically, we understand that Republicans, esp. Trump, have no bottom with their evil and corruption.

And with that motivation, it seems to me that they have something, not on Fetterman, but his wife, Gisela.

More specifically, she was born in Brazil, got her green card, and became naturalized.

Fetterman was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[2][3] When she was seven years old, she came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant with her mother and younger brother, taking up residence in a one-room apartment in New York City.[4][2][5] They left Brazil due to violent crime in their community.[2][6] In New York, the family lived in poverty, and furnished their apartment with furniture they found on the street.[4] Fetterman said that her family often depended on food banks and thrift stores.[2] Her mother, who has a PhD degree from a Brazilian university and had worked as a nutritionist and educator, took jobs cleaning hotels and houses, and was often denied pay due to her status as an undocumented immigrant.[2][6]

Fetterman did not speak English when she arrived in the United States, and enrolled in an English as a second language program at her school in Queens.[2] The family later moved to Newark, New Jersey.[6] She studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.[7]

Fetterman received her green card in 2004 and became a citizen of the United States in 2009.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gisele_Barreto_Fetterman

My point: Trump and Co. have been targeting naturalized Americans and retracting their citizenship. Gisela Fetterman would be an obvious target and John Fetterman would be susceptible to blackmail.

Mysterian

(6,610 posts)
32. Fetterman will be unemployed in about two years and his new republican friends will be of no help
Wed May 13, 2026, 06:48 PM
8 hrs ago

He has truly fucked his life up with his idiotic swing to support the imbecile president.

Wiz Imp

(10,365 posts)
37. Ricketts of Nebraska did not vote because he was unavailable this morning.
Wed May 13, 2026, 07:08 PM
8 hrs ago

If Fetterman had indicated he would vote for it, they would have just waited a couple hours to call the vote until Ricketts was available to vote so it would have been 50-50 with Vance making the tie-breaking vote. In other words, Fetterman didn't single handedly do anything. He made a bad vote, but even if he had voted with all the Democrats, the end result would have been the same.

groundloop

(13,905 posts)
41. At this point can Fetterman even be considered a Democrat?
Wed May 13, 2026, 07:26 PM
7 hrs ago

And DAMN, it seems like we've always got that one 'special' Senator who screws things up for us. Previously it was Manchin, and even earlier one of the biggest disappointments was Joe Lieberman who killed Single Payer.

Wiz Imp

(10,365 posts)
45. Fetterman has killed nothing. Almost all his bad votes relate in some way to his insane support of Israel.
Wed May 13, 2026, 08:14 PM
6 hrs ago

Response to paleotn (Reply #40)

paleotn

(22,650 posts)
46. Granted. He didn't really swing things. But he still voted with the Pukes.
Wed May 13, 2026, 08:14 PM
6 hrs ago

In my mind, that's the story.

WarGamer

(18,847 posts)
43. If we take the Senate in November... gonna need an extra victory because Fetterman will bolt, 100%
Wed May 13, 2026, 07:57 PM
7 hrs ago

FBaggins

(28,751 posts)
49. That would take winning a "likely R" seat
Wed May 13, 2026, 08:32 PM
6 hrs ago

There are currently only four red seats thought to be competitive... and that assumes the three competitive blue seats hold the line.

Having said that - I doubt that he would switch. I think he would rather play the Joe Manchin role in a 51-49 senate.

GiqueCee

(4,683 posts)
50. Well...
Wed May 13, 2026, 10:15 PM
4 hrs ago

... he can be assured that will be among those august personages who have the dubious distinction of being the least admired people in politics.
He makes Benedict Arnold look like a saint.

Bayard

(30,216 posts)
56. That boy has got to go
Wed May 13, 2026, 10:58 PM
4 hrs ago

We were all really wrong about him. I will still give him the benefit of the doubt that his stroke may have something to do with current failings. But--he's gotta go.

Seasider

(209 posts)
59. It's too bad voters can't recall Senators
Wed May 13, 2026, 11:55 PM
3 hrs ago

Like they do Governors. Remind me again never to support a candidate Bernie endorsed.

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