Fetterman Suggests He Could Leave Democrats If Next Senate Leader Hostile to Israel

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) suggested he may leave the Democratic Party if Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) becomes the next Senate majority leader amid a leadership battle in the upper congressional chamber.

“It would be troubling if my caucus elects someone like Van Hollen that has really made his name being very anti-hostile to Israel,” Fetterman said in a Fox News interview, released Saturday, when asked whether there is a “red line” that would make him “walk away” from the Democratic Party.

Fetterman’s comments were made after Van Hollen announced Thursday that he would challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to be the Senate Democratic leader.

In a post on X, Van Hollen wrote that in the midterms, voters “called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption.”

“To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn’t about any one person – it’s about answering that call,” he wrote.

Fetterman, who is up for reelection in 2028, has consistently broken with some Democrats on supporting Israel and other issues. However, he has said he doesn’t plan on becoming a Republican.

Responding to the Pennsylvania senator, Van Hollen told “Fox News Sunday” that “it’s widely known that Sen. Fetterman is worried about a Democratic primary in his state of Pennsylvania, and so may be looking for an exit ramp.”

Van Hollen said that his position on Israel is that taxpayers “should not be providing a blank check to Israel, or any government.” He also criticized Israel’s government for backing settlers in the West Bank.

“First of all, I hope Sen. Fetterman will stay true to his economic populist message, and that’s something that I would support,” Van Hollen also remarked.

Weeks before the midterm elections, during which Democrats took significant majorities in both the House and Senate to recapture Congress, President Donald Trump welcomed the idea of Fetterman becoming a Republican.

“I’d love to see him as a Republican,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in October. “He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat.”

Previously, Fetterman had rejected the idea of switching parties, writing in a Washington Post opinion article published in May that voters would consider him a “terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.”

“It wasn’t long ago when Democrats wanted a secure border,” he also wrote. “I voted on an immigration bill in 2024 to make sure an influx the size of Pittsburgh doesn’t come through the border like it did under the previous administration. I have co-sponsored legislation to stop the flow of fentanyl.”

His relationship with fellow Democrats became more tenuous after he recorded a video for the Republican midterm convention in September that praised Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), suggesting there were extremists in his party.

“I’m always going to stand with America,” Fetterman said in the video. “I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.”

In a statement on Nov. 12, Schumer said that he has enough votes in the Senate to remain majority leader during the next Congress.

“I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader,” he wrote, adding that he welcomes “any discussion about the future of our caucus.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.