Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., issued an apology on Thursday for Senate Democrats’ inability to end the ongoing government shutdown, which has now stretched into its fourth week.
Speaking with CNN’s Manu Raju, Fetterman expressed frustration over the prolonged impasse that has left federal workers without pay and placed millions of Americans at risk of losing food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“And like I said, to all of the viewers, I’m apologizing that we can’t even get our s— together and just open up our government,” Fetterman said.
The deadlock between Senate Republicans and Democrats over spending legislation has stalled the start of the new fiscal year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned that if the shutdown continues, roughly 42 million Americans could lose access to SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps.
Fetterman said he expects to see the effects personally when he returns home to Pennsylvania.
“I’ll witness it firsthand,” he explained. “My wife, Giselle, runs the Free Store in our community. It distributes food three times a week, and her lines have already grown longer. Starting Saturday, I’ll encounter people who have no SNAP benefits — and I don’t have an explanation for them.”
The senator apologized again, calling the situation “an absolute failure.”
“All I can say is I’m sorry. This has been a complete failure over the past month, and now people are going to feel it. Imagine being a parent trying to fill the refrigerator, pack lunches, and get on with life when the help you depend on disappears because we can’t even agree to reopen the government.”
Fetterman also took aim at his own party for its inability to strike a deal with Republicans.
“If Democrats can’t even agree to open this up, then our party has bigger problems than I thought,” he said. “That shouldn’t be controversial — pay everyone. Our workers here have borrowed over a third of a billion dollars just to pay their bills.”
He concluded bluntly:
“It’s a failure.”
