Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has missed nearly 83% of Senate roll call votes since checking himself into a hospital to receive treatment for clinical depression last month.
According to government watchdog GovTrack, Fetterman has missed 53 of the 64 Senate roll call votes held during February and March. His average falls well beyond the lifetime record for missed votes for all current senators, which stands at 2.3%.
Wednesday will mark six weeks since Fetterman first checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the night of February 15, and there is still no clear indication as to when he might return to work. His office has provided periodic updates, including that he is making progress towards his recovery, as well as that he has been able to continue doing some work from the hospital.
Then-Democratic Senate candidate and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman speaks during a campaign event at the Steamfitters Technology Center in Harmony, Pa., Oct. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
On March 6, Fetterman’s chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, posted on Twitter that the senator “will be back soon,” and included pictures of the two sitting together working from a table at the hospital.
Last week, Fetterman’s communications director, Joe Calvello, also said the senator would be back “soon,” but did not provide any further details on the time frame beyond that it would be “at least over a week.”
Fetterman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital specifically about the day-to-day operation of the office in his absence, however his staff has reportedly been filling gaps wherever needed in order to keep the office going.
Jentleson told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star earlier this month that staff would likely be doing the same amount of work even if Fetterman were physically present in the office, and touted that between a third and half of the staff were policy experts.
Then-Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman participates in a debate with his GOP challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz on October 25 in Harrisburg, PA. (NewsNation)
He also noted in the report that Fetterman “certainly will miss votes” considering his condition, but that this was a “pretty good time” out of any other time during the calendar year to miss because of the lack of significant legislation.
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The votes Fetterman missed include a number of judicial and other nominations, as well as a bipartisan bill that sought to strike down a new Labor Department rule encouraging retirement fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues in their investments.
Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.
