Pennsylvania freshman Sen. John Fetterman (D) made it clear Monday morning that he wasn’t enthusiastic about slogging through a marathon series of votes on President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” complaining that the process was cutting into his beach time, even though the bill is expected to pass regardless.
“Oh my God, I just want to go home. I’ve already … I’ve missed our entire trip to the beach,” he told reporters.
He mentioned that his family would already have returned from the beach by the time he finished at the Capitol in D.C., The Hill reported.
“There’s no drama,” he said. “The only interesting votes are going to be on the margin,” he added, citing a couple of GOP colleagues who are holdouts
“I don’t think it’s really helpful to put people here until some ungodly hour,” Fetterman, who ultimately voted ‘no’ on the bill, added.
Senators began voting shortly after 9:30 a.m. EDT Monday on a marathon series of procedural motions and amendments expected to continue late into the night or even early Tuesday morning.
Lawmakers from both parties are eager to leave Washington, as the start of the weeklong July Fourth holiday recess was delayed by several days to complete work on the legislation, The Hill noted further, adding:
Senators had to stay up late to read the revised 940-page Senate bill, which was released late Friday, a few minutes before midnight.
Then they had to come to the Capitol on Saturday and wait around until after 11 p.m. to finish a vote on a motion to proceed to the bill.
Senate floor staff spent the rest of Saturday night and most of Sunday reading through the bill — an arduous process that stretched out for more than 16 hours.
Senators finally started voting on amendments Monday morning, with no end-time in sight.
One House member from Fetterman’s home state had some choice words for the junior senator following his comments.
“If you are here, you are damned lucky and privileged to be here. You should want to be here, and if you don’t want to be here, leave,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) said in an interview with The Bulwark posted on Tuesday.
