Fetterman Chides Democrats, Saying Lack of Support on Laken Riley Act Shows Just Why They Lost

Senator Fetterman is making a public campaign for bipartisanship following President Trump’s November victory, saying that Democrats have lost touch with voters especially on the issue of immigration and that his party members need to make an effort to work with the new Republican trifecta in Washington. He warned Democrats on Tuesday that if they can’t get the votes to pass the Laken Riley Act, then they will just be repeating the mistakes that cost them the Senate, House, and White House in 2024. The Laken Riley Act, named for a murdered University of Georgia student, will come up for a vote in the Senate on Friday after the House passed it by a wide bipartisan margin on Tuesday. It would require, among other things, that migrants be detained by the federal government for deportation if they are even charged with crimes like theft or burglary. Critics have warned that it grants far too much power to state law enforcement officers to run national immigration policy, though that isn’t stopping Mr. Fetterman from signing on. Mr. Fetterman sat down with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Tuesday to talk about bipartisanship and the Laken Riley Act alongside his Republican colleague, Senator Britt, who he considers one of his best friends in the chamber and who visited him in 2023 when he was hospitalized for depression. Ms. Britt introduced the Laken Riley Act in the Senate, and Mr. Fetterman was the first Democrat to co-sponsor the bill. “It’s really common sense,” Mr. Fetterman said of the deportation bill that is coming up in the Senate on Friday. “We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of migrants here illegally that have [been] convicted of crimes. Who wants to allow them to remain in our nation?”According to Semafor, Ms. Britt informed her GOP colleagues on Wednesday afternoon that she had the requisite votes to get to 60 and suspend debate on the bill, allowing it to get a final vote. Because Senator-elect Justice is delaying his swearing-in until next week, Republicans need eight Democratic votes to break the filibuster. Mr. Fetterman warns that if his party can’t even cough up eight votes for the Laken Riley Act, then the Democrats already aren’t learning their lesson from the shellacking they got two months ago. “I think if we can’t, you know — there’s 47 [Democrats] in the Senate, and if we can’t pull up with seven votes, and if we can’t get at least seven out of 47 … then that’s the reason why we lost,” Mr. Fetterman said, miscounting the number needed to pass debate. “That’s one of them.”Beyond the Laken Riley Act, Mr. Fetterman has promised to work alongside Republicans and Trump on a whole host of issues once power changes hands. Most notably, the Pennsylvania senator has committed to meeting with every one of the president-elect’s nominees, and now says he plans to vote for several of them. “I’ve met with virtually all of them and the ones that I haven’t, they’re on my schedule — RFK, Governor Noem — so I’m happy to meet with all of them. That’s also part of this: I don’t know why that was controversial. I mean, I got a lot of blowback just to meet with them. To me, I just see that as doing my job.”Mr. Fetterman announced he would support Trump’s nominees for secretary of state, United Nations ambassador, secretary of transportation, and secretary of agriculture. “We’re gonna go through the process, but I’m open to hear from everyone. I don’t know why that’s controversial,” he said. “I’d like to remind everyone on the Democratic side: that’s the way democracy works. Trump won, and now they’re gonna run the table … they get to pick those kinds of people.”

Fetterman Chides Democrats, Saying Lack of Support on Laken Riley Act Shows Just Why They Lost

Fetterman Chides Democrats, Saying Lack of Support on Laken Riley Act Shows Just Why They Lost

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