Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) urged fellow Democrats to reopen the government, saying the ongoing shutdown sends “the wrong message” to Americans and to the world.

Speaking on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures on Oct. 12, Fetterman said Congress should resume operations and debate health care policy once federal employees are back to work, as reported by GOP USA.

“It’s, like, I can’t ever or will ever vote to shut our government down,” Fetterman said.

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“It was wrong if the Republicans did these things, and I led that charge back in March, saying it’s wrong to shut us down, and we kept it open. I said in March that when September comes, I’m going to be the one guy that says it’s wrong to do this. The losers are these poor Americans here that are going to get caught in the middle of this thing.”

The government shut down on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to approve a funding resolution.

Republican leadership proposed a short-term extension through Nov. 21 to allow negotiations on full-year spending bills, but most Democrats opposed the measure, seeking instead to tie the bill to an extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits. Those credits are set to expire at the end of the year.

Fetterman rejected the idea of using the shutdown as leverage to advance health care policy. “Now, I fully support—let’s have a conversation to extending those tax credits,” he said.

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“I think a lot of Republicans might even agree with that, too. … That’s a priority for us, and they might agree. But, you know, let’s have our government open and have that conversation so people can get paid and we can’t have this kind of chaos.”

Fetterman added that he is willing to stand apart from members of his own party to reopen the government. “I understand my party may want to shut our government down,” he said. “I’ll be a Democrat saying, ‘Hey, that’s wrong.’ That’s why I’m choosing country over party on this.”

Today, exclusively on @SundayFutures with @MariaBartiromo, Senator John Fetterman @SenFettermanPA spoke about President Trump’s Gaza Peace Deal and the federal government shutdown.@FoxNews pic.twitter.com/PfG0myQ07W

— SundayMorningFutures (@SundayFutures) October 12, 2025

Fetterman and Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, were among the few in their caucus to support the GOP-led temporary funding plan before the Oct. 1 deadline.

As the standoff continued, party leaders traded blame. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) faulted Republicans for what they called an “unnecessary crisis,” while House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Democrats were holding up funding over unrelated policy demands.

Pressed about whether politics is fueling the impasse, Fetterman said, “perhaps on both sides” some members are “putting party in front of country.” He described the shutdown as “silly” and warned it could weaken national security at a time of heightened global tensions.

“Why even let us take the risk of finding out?” he asked.

“Shutting our government down, that’s the wrong message for the world, for Americans as well, too,” Fetterman added. “I don’t care whose that blame is. It’s not about a blame game, it’s about open this government. Have this conversation, and let’s address these kinds of health care issues as well.”