Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA): Voting Record, Party Loyalty Score, and Attendance — 2026 Scorecard

Since taking his Senate seat in January 2023, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has built one of the most unusual voting records in the Democratic caucus. He has crossed party lines on immigration, foreign policy, executive nominations, and government funding — more often, and on more high-profile votes, than any other Senate Democrat. He has also missed more votes than nearly every other senator currently serving. This scorecard tracks all of it.

At a Glance

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Party Loyalty Score

According to a legislative tracker cited by Keystone Newsroom in December 2025, Fetterman voted in support of President Trump and the Republican Party 26% of the time across all Senate votes during 2025 — the highest rate of any Senate Democrat. No other member of the Democratic caucus came close to that alignment rate.

His GovTrack ideology score places him at the 32nd percentile among Senate Democrats — meaningfully more moderate than most of his colleagues, though still well within the Democratic range on the full Senate spectrum. GovTrack visualizes his position as a "purple triangle" — distinct from the standard blue cluster of Democratic senators.

That data reflects a deliberate governing posture, not a fluke. Fetterman has made no secret of his willingness to break with the caucus. His stated reasoning has been consistent across issues: he votes based on what he believes is right for Pennsylvania and the country, not on what leadership expects.

Key Cross-Party Votes

The following are Fetterman's most significant departures from the Democratic caucus in the 119th Congress. Each links to the official Senate roll call record.

Laken Riley Act: S.5 required mandatory detention of undocumented immigrants arrested for theft or other crimes. Fetterman was one of approximately a dozen Democrats to vote for it; all but a handful crossed the aisle. He had also cosponsored the bill when it was reintroduced in the 119th Congress, alongside Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) as the only Democratic cosponsors.

Pamela Bondi (AG): Every Senate Democrat voted against Bondi's confirmation — except Fetterman. He was the sole member of the Democratic caucus to vote yes on Trump's Attorney General nominee, who was confirmed 54–46.

DHS Funding (H.R. 7147): On February 12, 2026, with a partial DHS shutdown looming, Fetterman was again the lone Democrat to vote for advancing a continuing resolution to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The cloture motion failed 52–47, short of the 60 required. Fetterman argued that blocking DHS funding would harm critical non-immigration functions — the Coast Guard, FEMA, and cybersecurity operations — while having no practical effect on ICE, which was separately funded through the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Iran War Powers (S.J.Res.104): On March 4, 2026, the Senate voted on whether to discharge S.J.Res.104, a joint resolution that would have directed the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran without congressional authorization. Every Senate Democrat voted yes — except Fetterman. He voted no, siding with 52 Republicans to kill the resolution. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican to vote with Democrats on this measure.

Attendance Record

According to GovTrack data, Fetterman has missed 192 of 1,387 roll call votes between February 2023 and March 2026 — a rate of 13.8%. That is much worse than the median 2.8% absence rate among the senators currently serving.

The bulk of those absences are attributable to a single extended medical event: Fetterman was hospitalized for approximately five weeks beginning in February 2023 after checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of clinical depression. His office was transparent about the diagnosis, and he returned to the Senate in late March 2023. Outside of that period, his attendance rate is considerably closer to the Senate average.

Approval Ratings

Fetterman's approval numbers in Pennsylvania have taken on a politically unusual shape. A Morning Consult poll from January 2026 found:

• 51% overall approval among Pennsylvania registered voters
• 73% approval from Pennsylvania Republicans
• 62% disapproval from Pennsylvania Democrats

That is a striking inversion. It is rare for a senator to hold a majority approval overall while being underwater with their own party. Fetterman's Republican approval (73%) is comparable to or higher than some Republican senators in their own states — a reflection of his cross-aisle voting record and his consistent willingness to challenge Democratic orthodoxy on immigration, foreign policy, and government funding.

The Data Picture [ANALYSIS]

Fetterman is doing something genuinely unusual in modern Senate politics: he is a Democrat representing a purple state who is governing more toward the center-right on selected issues rather than running away from the label. Whether that calculus is principled, strategic, or some mixture of both, the voting record is clear. He is not a reliable member of the Democratic caucus on contested votes — and on a handful of the most high-profile votes of the 119th Congress, he has been the only Democrat on the Republican side of the ledger.

The Bondi vote, the Iran war powers vote, and the DHS funding vote share a common thread: in each case, Fetterman was the deciding factor between a unanimous Democratic "no" and a split. In none of those cases did his vote change the outcome — Bondi would have been confirmed 53–46 without him, and DHS funding still failed. But the optics and the signal were loud regardless.

His attendance record is a legitimate vulnerability. An absence rate of 13.8% is nearly five times the Senate median. Even accounting for the 2023 hospitalization, the gap is significant and verifiable through public voting records. Voters and colleagues on both sides have noticed.

With his Senate term running through 2028, Fetterman faces a re-election in two years in a state that has trended increasingly competitive. His bipartisan approval numbers suggest he may be building toward a centrist brand. Whether that brand holds through a Democratic primary is the more uncertain political question.