Bulwark Takes - Fetterman Acts Like a BABY, Complains About Bill Process

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

Tim and Sam take on Sen. Fetterman's complaint that his job in the Senate is keeping him away from the beach. With healthcare for millions, billions in aid, and the fiscal future of the United States on the line, the question is raised: Is it time for Fetterman to get serious—or get out? This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Bulwark fans get 10% off their first month at https://betterhelp.com/bulwarktakes

Hey guys, Tim Miller from the Bulwark here from the Birdcage Room at the Bulwark headquarters and I'm here with Sam Stein, our managing editor. What's going on, Sam? I love the backdrop, Tim. Thank you. So look, I want to talk about a guy named John Federman. He seems pretty unhappy with his job. He seems pretty unhappy with his employment.

He might want to consider other employment where the hours aren't quite as great. But we have this bill, there's what they're calling a Voterama going on over on the Hill with regards to the big, fugly bill. And Federman, I guess to his credit, is against the bill, is a hard no. But he feels like that's his only job and he wants to go to the beach. So I want to talk about the implications of all that. But first, let's just watch John Federman over on Capitol Hill this morning. Oh my God. I just want to go home. I've already, I've missed our entire trip to the beach.

My family's going to be back before we on that. So, and again, I'm going to vote no. There's no drama. We know the votes are going to go. In fact, the only interesting votes are going to be on the margin, whether that's Collins or Johnson and those, but all the Democrats, we all know how that are going to go. In fact, the only interesting votes are going to be on the margin, whether that's Collins or Johnson and those, but all the Democrats, we all know how that's going to go. And I think, I don't think it's really helpful to put people here until when someone got

the hour. And again, thank you, sir. Appreciate your time. Yikes. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know about that one. I'll let me go first because this one actually kind of pissed me off a little bit. It's like what happened to this guy? Like

I know he's been like, you know, through a lot and and I know that he's in this place now where a lot of his own party is really disappointed if not outwardly hates him and I get that he's generally jaded on Washington DC and all that entails. Welcome to the club. Yeah. But like the guy who I covered five, 10 years ago, he was a passionate guy about certain things. Among them was protecting people who were left behind and like the working class folks

of Western Pennsylvania and all that stuff. And he made his reputation as someone who would go to the mat for them no matter what. And to have him stand there and say, well, we all know sort of how this is going to play out. And we're just wasting time. This is all shenanigans and it's games. And we're just trying to make political points. Like one, I don't know how it's going to play out. Does he actually know it's going to pass? It probably will pass.

I mean, I'm putting my money on it passing. But like two is have like some, you know, have some things you stand for, right? Like your constituents are going to be deprived. Healthcare they're going to be healthcare is going to be taken away from them. Your state is going to be deprived of billions of dollars in help for their green energy manufacturing, which you ostensibly care about. And all this is happening as they're going to ramp up tens of billions of dollars in ICE enforcement to go after people. You're a champion of the DACA recipients. Their parents are going to be taken away.

They're going to be deported. They might be taken away. If you don't want to be there, if you don't want to make these points, if you don't want to have these arguments, get a new line of work. Like, this is what you signed up for, this is what you got elected for, this is what you told people you would be in Washington, D.C. for. And if it's not good enough and you need to go to the beach, then get a new line of work.

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Plus, you can just switch therapists at any time. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash Bulwark takes that's better. H e l p dot com slash Bulwark takes. I guess I'll just say I agree with John Fetterman that a lot of the Senate stuff is BS phony baloney for show. And I think that there is a way to make that point sometimes in a way that makes sense

and to just be blunt and to say, I'm not going to go along with a lot of this. And I think that, you know, in 2025, we should do this stuff different. I'm fine with all that. To say, to do it in the context of, I wish I were going to be at the beach with my family, just like, okay, come on, man. It's totally tone deaf and it's totally out of touch, especially with the gravity of the situation as you laid out. But here's the other thing.

I think that is specific to Federman that really grinds my gears about all this is the kind of fait accompli, the fatalism about this. I don't know. There were two Republican senators that voted against cloture in Tillis and Rand Paul. Susan Collins, just a little bit ago, indicated that she's still leaning against. So that would take you to 50. So you only need one other Republican to vote no, and this thing doesn't pass.

It could be Lisa Murkowski, it could be Bill Cass. I'm not hopeful for any of these people. But I guess the point I'm trying to make is, if you're John Federman, in a different complaint about Washington, when you're complaining about your own party, you hear him saying these things like, well, just because Trump won, we had to listen to the people. It's important to work with the other side to get stuff done. And he's sad that bipartisanship is gone and that everybody has to be so, you know, reflexive and going into their corners. What's like, shouldn't, if this, shouldn't John Fetterman, if he was

sincere about the ways that he, about like why he went to have lunch with Trump and why he's open to working with Republicans the way other Democrats aren't, if he was sincere about that, wouldn't this be the moment to use some of that political capital and be like, hey, I'm going to go over there to those guys that I worked with on whatever, Israel funding, whatever it was, and say, you're hurting my state. Could you do an amendment, something that might help Pennsylvania? That might be one option. Could you, maybe they can convince you to vote against it and make the vote? But I don't know. Advocate. That's sort of being in the Senate, the deliberative body.

You're supposed to go deliberate and try to win people over. And this is not a 60 to 40 vote. But I don't know, like advocate that sort of being in the Senate, the deliberative body, you're supposed to go deliberate and try to win people over. And this is not a 60 to 40 vote. This is a right now, a 51 49 vote, maybe 50 50, where one vote can make a big difference. I don't think that is John Federer actually going to convince whatever one of those who will do it. I don't know, but he should at least try in good faith rather than wine like a child. Right. Like in an alternate universe, he takes the credibility he's earned from all this outreach to Republicans and all the criticism he's lobbed at Democrats.

And he goes to Lisa Murkowski and he says, hey, like you and I, let's go craft like an alternate version of this. Yeah. Right? Like let's, it might not work, but let's just try, right? Like, or hey, like maybe there's an amendment that I can introduce that would make this bill better. Or, you know, maybe I can like talk to Dave McCormick,

who is my colleague in Pennsylvania, and we can like try to craft something. But no, it's like, I don't really want to be here. I'd rather be anywhere else. It may be the most, you know, not existential, but it may be the biggest retrenchment in healthcare coverage in the history of legislation. But you know what? I got a beach to go to. It's like, again, he doesn't show up to the committee hearings and I recognize that it's been a slog and I recognize that it really

sucks when your own staff turns on you and all that shit. Like, I get it. I'm not saying like that's fun. I'm sure it's not But this is why you signed up for public service and in the moments like this This is what people expect from the people that they elect to at least have some skin in the game It's just crazy. That's why and Braddock John Fetterman would have made fun of a senator saying this is really the thought Oh, yeah, 100% He would have been like he'll be like you loser like you lazy fuck Look at all the people in my community should see how hard they work And they don't they don't get to go to the beach. Yeah, they have to go and work, you know it's a little bit and your David McCormick point is no just to just make a final point on this is like

It's it also lends credence to this things you hear from some Democrats that Fetterman is just being used by these guys Because it's like if you can go go and meet with Dave McCormick, which they've done several things, and when Dave McCormick's happy to see you because you guys can get along when the topic is something that you're punching left on. And you can't go work with Dave McCormick on something like this, where you have a disagreement with the right.

Then you're just being used. Well, this is my theory of the case, is that he's gotten into this kind of virtuous feedback loop here where he gets a lot of now. He gets a lot of kudos from Maggot people and and conservative commentators being like that's the real Democrat like that's a Democrat that I really like that's someone who's actually like Willing to stand up and say trues and like he kind of feeds off of that I think and I think for him instinctively now he likes to punch left and he liked to you know call it his party for doing you know what is theater essentially but in this case I don't think it's theater.

Yeah and I don't mind a little punch left from time to time but you gotta balance it. It's balance in all things equilibrium John Fetterman and do your job. Okay well there you go that's John Fetterman. Do your job. Okay, well there you go. That's John Fetterman. Lots more happening on the Hill. We're going to keep covering it. So stick around, subscribe to the feed. We'll catch you soon.