Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told reporters he would back Republicans in using the "nuclear option" to eliminate the Senate filibuster in order to pass legislation to reopen the government, The Hill reported on Tuesday.
Fetterman warned that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is nearing the end of its financial stability, and his constituents "need to eat" as the government shutdown now enters its fourth week.
The shutdown reached its 20th day on Monday, making it the longest full shutdown in history. On Monday evening, the Senate failed once again to pass a continuing resolution that had cleared the House of Representatives.
Although Fetterman has previously voted in favor of the measure, he did not vote on Monday.
"There are no winners here. It's not getting better every day here."
"People are going to start to get really hungry, and I've been fully, fully committed to fund SNAP. Open up the government," Fetterman said.
When asked if he would support the Republican majority "nuking" the filibuster to allow the funding to pass with a simple majority rather than the standard 60-vote threshold, Fetterman responded, "Carve it out, absolutely."
"We ran on that — we ran on killing the filibuster, and now we love it. Carve it out so we can move on."
"I support it because it makes it more difficult to shut the government down in the future, and that's where it's entirely appropriate," he said.
"I don't want to hear any Democrat clutching their pearls about the filibuster. We all ran on it."
Fetterman had warned of the effects of the shutdown on SNAP last week, posting on X, "Food insecurity is real for many Pennsylvania families. It's one of many reasons why I could never vote for shutting our government down."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., dismissed the idea of the nuclear option last week, saying he has not received any pressure from the White House to do so.
"There's always a lot of swirl out there, as you know, from social media, et cetera, but no, I have not had that conversation," Thune said when asked whether the Trump administration had urged him to consider the move.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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