Fetterman on “mass chaos” of government shutdown: I support healthcare tax credits but won’t “hold our government hostage”

Hours after voting to advance a deal to reopen the government, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman told CBS News the “mass chaos” wrought by the longest government shutdown in modern U.S. history pushed more Senate Democrats to the table.

The Pennsylvania senator was one of eight members of the Democratic caucus who voted late Sunday to move forward on a bill that would fund the government until at least late January. In exchange, Senate GOP leadership promised to hold a vote by next month on extending a slate of health insurance tax credits that are set to expire, among other concessions. 

“We need to find a way forward because I strongly, strongly support those tax credits to make health care more affordable,” Fetterman said in an interview with “CBS Mornings” that’s set to air Wednesday. “But I just refuse to shut our government down and hold our government hostage.”

The Senate still needs to vote on final passage and the House needs to approve the bill before the government can reopen, which could take a few days.

Most Democrats voted against the deal, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

But Fetterman said Senate Democrats had realized “collectively” that the shutdown “has to end.” He pointed to severe disruptions to air travel, uncertainty about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and missed paychecks for many government employees.

“I think enough people collectively agreed … we would find eight people overall to do that,” Fetterman said.

Some high-profile Democrats have accused Fetterman and others of caving since Republicans didn’t make any concrete promises to extend the health insurance subsidies at issue, a longstanding demand for Democratic leadership. 

Fetterman — who had consistently voted in favor of a House GOP-backed bill to keep the government open with no strings attached — rejected that premise, saying, “I refuse to gamble with the food insecurity of 42 million Americans.”

He accused critics of the deal of using their opposition as a campaign fundraising pitch.

“Many of the ones now that are railing at it jumped on fundraising emails,” he said. “I refuse to monetize the outrage.”

The senator said he’s hopeful that the health insurance subsidies will be extended, but “we have to negotiate with the Republicans because America decided to put us in the minority.”

“That’s the essence of democracy: To find a way forward because our parties have different priorities,” he said. “And that’s why I’ve always refused to put our government in the middle of all of it, because millions and millions of American lives will be impacted that way.”