Cracks in the congressional “blue wall”

One of the many surprises in the last presidential election was Donald Trump winning in three “blue wall” battleground states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Now that the reality of a second Trump term is sinking in, some Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, Democratic state attorneys general, and a large group of issue advocacy groups are working diligently to put up a new “blue wall” in Congress to delay or derail President Trump’s congressional agenda. 

That proposed “blue wall” currently has an unexpected crack in an unexpected place — the United States Senate with John Fetterman, the Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.

Elected to the Senate in in 2022, Fetterman is the most unpredictable and unconventional member of the Senate since Arlen Specter, another Pennsylvanian.

Once elected, Fetterman was widely expected to be a conventional partisan progressive and a reliable supporter for progressive public policy positions. 

Since his election he has demonstrated a level of independence that has surprised and disappointed progressives, and surprised and pleased conservatives.

Fetterman has regularly and forcefully expressed staunch support for Israel in their ongoing war with Hamas. 

On immigration, Fetterman has said, “I support a secure border.” He also supports the deportation of undocumented immigrants arrested for crimes committed in America. He has said he doesn’t know why anyone finds it controversial, that people illegally in the U.S. who commit crimes “need to go.”

Now Fetterman is publicly challenging Democratic members of Congress who are developing strategies to resist and derail Trump’s agenda in Congress. 

In a recent interview with Jonathan Carl on ABC News “This Week”, Fetterman said he hopes Trump is successful in his second term and he’s not “rooting against him.” This follows Fetterman’s pre-election endorsement of Kamala Harris for president and endorsing former long term fellow Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Bob Casey. 

He also said, “If you’re rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation. So, country first. I know that’s become maybe like a cliche, but it happens to be true.”

That observation is consistent with Fetterman’s thought that in moving forward, Democrats can’t get wrapped up in “freaking out” over every move that Trump makes. Most recently, Fetterman further affirmed his independent nature by accepting an invitation to meet with Trump in Florida. 

Fetterman announced his acceptance decision with his usual candor and bluntness, “President Trump invited me to meet, and I accepted. I’m the Senator for all Pennsylvanians — not just Democrats in Pennsylvania, I’ve been clear that no one is my gatekeeper. I will meet with and have conversations with anyone if it helps me deliver for Pennsylvania and the nation.”

Fetterman has walked his talk with regard to his role as a Senator, in voting to confirm or reject confirmation of some of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.

Fetterman was one of the first Democratic Senators to meet with Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice to serve as Secretary of Defense.

He has said he will vote to confirm Elise Stefanik as Ambassador to the United Nations and Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. 

He is still considering if he will vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Security.

While Fetterman’s approach to working with the Trump administration is not yet widely accepted by Democratic members of Congress, it is not unique.

At least one Democratic member of Congress has already embraced Fetterman’s approach to the Trump administration. 

In a New Year’s Day New York Times guest essay, Congressman Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. urged fellow Democratic lawmakers to drop the resistance movement and work with Trump in his second term.

Suozzi wrote, “As a Democratic member of Congress, I know my party will be tempted to hold fast against Mr. Trump at every turn, uniting against his bills, blocking his nominees and grinding the machinery of the House and the Senate to a halt. That would be a mistake. But as a common-sense Democrat who won in a district that Mr. Trump also won, I am certain our closely divided electorate would rather have bipartisan solutions than political gridlock.”

Going forward it will be most interesting to see if cracks in any congressional “blue wall” of resistance get bigger and deeper. 

While to date such cracks may be relatively small, they could expand to a point where a “blue wall” of resistance strategy is futile on stopping Trump’s ambitious second term agenda. 

With slim Republican majorities in Congress, especially in the House, any support by Democratic members of Congress for Trump’s congressional agenda significantly increases the odds for approval of that agenda.

David Reel is a public affairs/public relations consultant who serves as a trusted advisor on strategy, advocacy, and media matters. Born and raised in Harrisburg, he was formerly active in the government and political arenas in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. He now lives and works from Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

email icon

Subscribe to our mailing list:

4 thoughts on “Cracks in the congressional “blue wall””

  1. *polling shows where PA voters are*
    “WOW. Fetterman sure is reasonable and likeable despite gaslighting everyone along with other progressives. And I guess we can forget about his time breaking the rules of the Senate floor while LG to create some gotcha “nevertheless she persisted” moment.

    He’s an opportunist. Take his votes, but don’t forget who he has shown to be in the past.

    1. As long as he gives federal democrats agita, I’m happy. He seems like a different guy since he took time off for depression and anxiety shortly after he took his Senate seat and his wife vacated. Time will tell.

  2. “Fetterman announced his acceptance decision with his usual candor and bluntness, “President Trump invited me to meet, and I accepted. I’m the Senator for all Pennsylvanians — not just Democrats in Pennsylvania,” Unlike Trump and his allies who want to withhold Federal aid to California because of the fires.

    “Fetterman was one of the first Democratic Senators to meet with Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice to serve as Secretary of Defense.” – Something Mitch McConnel refused to do when Obama wanted to nominate Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

    “Suozzi wrote, “As a Democratic member of Congress, I know my party will be tempted to hold fast against Mr. Trump at every turn, uniting against his bills, blocking his nominees and grinding the machinery of the House and the Senate to a halt. That would be a mistake. But as a common-sense Democrat who won in a district that Mr. Trump also won, I am certain our closely divided electorate would rather have bipartisan solutions than political gridlock.” – As opposed to the Republicans and the Freedom Caucus who did precisely this during Biden’s term in office.

    This makes Senator Fetterman sound willing to listen to opposing viewpoints. That does not mean he is not going to oppose Trump’s “ambitious second term”

Leave a (Respectful) Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *