John Fetterman finds himself on an island in the Senate: from the Politics Office

Welcome to the online version of Political officeAn evening newsletter that brings you the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Policy team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign campaign.

In today’s edition, we examine the place of John Fetterman in the Senate, where the Pennsylvania Democrat is more and more on an island. In addition, Kristen Welker presented an overview of his interview with the Secretary of Transports Sean Duffy on “Meet the Press” this Sunday.

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– Adam Wollner

An isolated John Fetterman comes up against colleagues and staff while he skips his duties from the Senate

Allan Smith, Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V have a story deeply reported this afternoon On Senator John Feterman, d-P., On the basis of interviews with 18 former staff members, Pennsylvania officials and legislators and members of Congress staff, many of whom said that the senator was increasingly isolated and absent from official affairs, in Washington and his country of origin.

Fetterman’s behavior received renewed control After a recent article in New York magazine Cetail concerns about his mental health of one of his nearest former collaborators, as well as the frustration of Democrats that Fetterman is not on the same wavelength as many other party members when it comes to resisting Trump and his program.

Here are some of the key lines in history:

• Fetterman was open to confirm Pete Hegseth for the defense secretary, according to two people familiar with his reflection, so Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., I wanted to speak with his head-on colleague. But Fetterman refused to speak to one of the oldest and most respected members of the Caucus.
• Two sources familiar with the exchange said that Fetterman was “impolia and disdainful” for Senator Jeanne Shaheen, DN.H., who wanted to discuss a republican bill designed to punish the International Criminal Court for having made arrest mandates to Israeli officials. He also suggested that he would be more inclined to help him if she put him in the foreign relations committee – something that she did not have the power to do.
• From April 2024 to this March, Fetterman missed 77 of the 381 votes, According to Govtrack. This put it in the 90th in the 99th centile among all the senators in terms of total missing votes during each three -month section of the calendar at that time.
• Fetterman jumped 25 of the 26 hearings or commercial meetings that the Senate Commerce Committee held this year, the first hearing he attended Thursday, after the publication of the article in New York magazine. He missed the nine of the hearings and commercial meetings that the Senate Committee for Internal Security held this year and jumped the 11 times that the Senate Committee for Agriculture met in 2025.
• A Pennsylvania Democratic legislator who spoke Thursday with NBC News said he had had no interaction with Fetterman in recent months.

Find out more of the team →

Transport secretary, Duffy, faces the concerns of Newark Airport

While the Americans are preparing for a summer of busy travel plans, the news waterfall on problems at Newark Liberty International Airport has given many breaks.

Some radar screens serving the airport Donsiere for 90 seconds early Fridaydays after the reports that air traffic controllers Temporarily lost communication With an airplane. And there was a series of delays on one of the country’s busiest airports.

This is why I spoke to the Secretary of Transports Sean Duffy for the episode of this Sunday of “Meet The Press”, to ask him the questions which are in the minds of the Americans at the moment on the safety of aircraft and the transport infrastructures.

The main thing: Duffy told me that he felt safe while flying in and outside Newark, and that American airspace is “safer”.

But there is no quick fix to solve infrastructure problems. While Duffy said that a specific news in Newark should be completed by the end of the summer, The air traffic modernization plan Released Thursday will take three years.

“It is a system that is, what – at best, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes 50 years. Congress and the country have not paid attention to it, right? They expect it to work. And therefore I think that the lights are blinking, the sirens run, and they say:” Listen, we must solve this problem “”, said Duffy.

Do not miss more Duffy this Sunday, as well as exclusive interviews with meaning. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., And Amy Klobuchar, d-minn.

What to know of the Trump administration today

• Trump’s best advisor, Stephen Miller Protection of the regular procedure For unauthorized immigrants in the country.
• Trump’s last minute to Increase taxes on the richest Americans Meet a saw to buzz in the opposition in the Republican Party, with a number of things on the gravity of the proposal.
• Another problem for “Big and Beautiful Bill” by Trump: four Republicans from New York has published a fellow declaration The rejection of an offer which, according to them, came from the speaker Mike Johnson, R-La, and the best tax writer in the Chamber on how to extend the state and the local tax deduction.
• Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said to the Congress leaders That the United States will likely reach the debt ceiling by August.
• Asset reported a will To reduce the rate of price by the United States of the United States to China before the commercial negotiations between the two countries. He wrote in a social article of truth: “The 80% price on China seems right! Until Scott B. ”, seeming to refer to Bessent.
• Asset Suddenly licensed The Congress Librarian, Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first African-American to hold the post.
• The Calendar of the Director of FBI, Kash Patel, was lighter on the briefings of intelligence and heavier on the appearances in Pro Sporting Events, raise concerns that he does not take the work serious enough.

✉️ Mailbag: Democrats are looking for their next leader

Thank you to everyone who sent us an email! The question of this week comes from Frank Mona III:

“Will someone become the standard carrier of democrats on a national scale (and if so, who?) Or do you think that it will continue to be a group of governors, Congress leaders and senatorials with messages that overlap?”

To answer this, we turned to a national political journalist Ben Kamisar. Here is his answer:

Historically, unless a political party has a president of the White House or a presidential candidate, he generally does not have a single norm holder.

Indeed, without this kind of unifying force, there is generally not a unique approach to lead a national political party. Instead, there are groups of politicians who try to grasp the coat of the different wings of the party. In recent years on the Democratic side, people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have captured energy on the left, and people like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have spoken for the establishment of the party.

This is why we see the whole group of potential presidential hopes in 2028 on the democratic side Try to cut yourself different waysInstead of trying to be the unique standard carrier. And this dynamic will not change as long as the presidential appointment competition is marching in a few years.

It’s all of the political bureau for the moment. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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