Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) publicly apologized Thursday for his party’s failure to end the ongoing government shutdown, acknowledging that the lapse in leadership is about to leave millions of Americans without vital food assistance. In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Fetterman offered a blunt assessment of the situation, warning that the consequences will soon become painfully real for struggling families.
Asked about the imminent expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, Fetterman explained that he has already seen the effects at home. His wife, Giselle, runs a community food distribution initiative known as the Free Store, which he says has seen demand spike in recent weeks. With SNAP set to run out for many Americans on Saturday, Fetterman said he will be facing constituents who no longer have access to the food assistance they’ve relied on.
“I will encounter people that have no SNAP benefits starting on Saturday, and I don’t have an explanation for them,” he admitted. “All I could say is I’m sorry. It’s an absolute failure — what occurred here for the last month.”
Fetterman also criticized the Democratic leadership for failing to push through a vote simply to reopen the government. “If a Democrat — you know, we’re not allowed to just open this up, I mean, then our party has bigger problems than I thought we might have already,” he said.
He noted that many federal workers have had to borrow money just to keep up with basic expenses while waiting for Congress to act. “It’s a failure,” he said, apologizing to viewers for what he called a breakdown in basic governance. “We can’t even get our [act] together and just open up our government.”
Fetterman’s comments underscore a growing rift within the Democratic Party over how to handle the shutdown, as well as mounting pressure from constituents now facing real economic hardship. His apology adds to growing public frustration with a government that remains paralyzed as essential services run dry.
