As Congress faces a looming government shutdown, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., had some advice for his fellow Democrats on Friday.
"Never, never, never vote for a shutdown — ever," he wrote on social platform X.
Fetterman's comments come as Congress races to pass a stopgap spending bill ahead of the March 14 deadline to avert a government shutdown.
The GOP's razor-thin majority in the House means that some Democrat votes will likely be needed to approve the funding measure and keep federal agencies working.
Democrat negotiators working on the continuing resolution to temporarily shore up the government reportedly have accused hard-line conservatives of trying to advance priorities they're not in favor of, while House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called on them to "be reasonable."
In a Sunday interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" Johnson said he was trying to pass a stopgap funding bill, adding that there must be "partners on both sides of the aisle to do it."
"Government funding is always bipartisan," he said. "We are working hard to do our responsibility to keep the government open. We need our Democrat colleagues to come to the table and be reasonable about that."
The last and the longest federal government shutdown happened during President Donald Trump's first term in office and lasted 35 days.
This is the second scolding Fetterman has given his own party this week, after having called out the behavior of some Democrats during the president's Tuesday night speech to a joint session of Congress.
"A sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance," Fetterman posted on X on Wednesday. "It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained. We're becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to—and it may not be the winning message."
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was ejected from the House chamber Tuesday night after he refused to stop waving his cane and shouting at Trump that he did not have "a mandate to cut Medicaid." He was censured for his protest in a 224-198 vote on Thursday, with 10 Democrats joining with Republicans in favor of the resolution.
Other Democrats held up silent-auction-style signs during Trump's address, including ones that read "False" and "Musk Steals."
In his Friday social media post, Fetterman included gold, silver, and bronze award medal emoji bullet points and listed corresponding Democrat behavior from Trump's speech: "Snub a 13 year-old cancer survivor," "Joint Address Protest Paddle Bonanza," and "Bizarre 'Pick Your Fighter' videos."
Next to the mug of beer emoji bullet point, the senator wrote, "Hold our beer: Government Shutdown!" He included a screenshot of a Politico article about Senate Democrats' fast-approaching choice on voting for a shutdown.
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