Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said he feels pressured to show up to votes and hearings that he finds useless, adding his mental health struggles have been “weaponized.”
“My doctor warned years ago: After it’s public that you are getting help for depression, people will weaponize that,” Fetterman told The New York Times in an interview published Saturday. “Simple things are turned. That’s exactly what happened.”
Fetterman has previously been vocal about his struggles with depression after he survived a stroke on the 2022 campaign trail that he said nearly killed him.
Fetterman has missed 18.1% of floor votes since taking office.
The new report details Fetterman’s extreme reluctance with performing his senatorial work duties, including showing up for procedural votes that he calls “performative.”
