John Fetterman Tells MS NOW He Has No Regrets About Breaking Ranks to Reopen the Government

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told MS NOW he has no regrets about breaking away from most of his Democratic colleagues and voting to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, even though it appears unlikely Dems will get the Obamacare tax credits they were pushing for by the end of the year.

The senator was asked if he had second thoughts about his vote during an interview on Katy Tur Reports on Tuesday.

“Do you regret ending the shutdown?” Host Katy Tur asked.

“No, we should have never shut—” Fetterman said, as Tur continued with her question.

“If the Democrats had not ended the shutdown, voted with Republicans, and kept going to push these ACA extensions, would that have been a better idea? Give that they’re about to run out and people are about to see massive hikes in their healthcare,” Tur said.

“Shutting our government down was always wrong. And I will never vote to shut our government down,” Fetterman said.

He continued, saying the 43-day shutdown was responsible for “plunging 42 million Americans [into] food insecurity.”

Tur, a moment later, said many of Fetterman’s constituents are “really worried” about losing their health coverage by the end of the year, and noted it looks like “time is running out” on getting a deal done with Republicans before Affordable Care Act subsidies expire.

Fetterman said he stood by his vote to reopen the government. He then pointed to a Senate vote on extending Obamacare subsidies for three years that is coming up on Thursday, although it is not expected to pass. 

“We could have got the same vote that we’re going to have on Thursday with not even shutting the government for that,” Fetterman said. “Because this vote should not be a political, you know, kind of a show vote. It really should be a vote that really has a chance to pass.”

Fetterman was one of eight Democratic senators who voted to reopen the government in November. Many Democratic lawmakers were upset the deal did not include an extension on Obamacare subsidies, leading to representatives like Ro Khanna (D-CA) saying it was the “final straw” for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Watch above.