Top Democrat To Jump Ship To Republicans?

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday that Republicans would gladly welcome Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) if he ever decides to leave the Democratic Party, pointing to the Pennsylvania senator’s repeated disagreements with fellow Democrats over support for Israel.

Asked whether Republicans would embrace Fetterman if he switched parties, Thune responded that they would. He also revealed that he and several Republican senators have spoken with Fetterman about the challenges he faces within the Democratic caucus, adding that any decision to change parties ultimately rests with the Pennsylvania lawmaker.

Thune argued that the Democratic Party has continued moving further to the left on a range of issues, leaving more moderate Democrats politically isolated. He suggested that Fetterman’s positions often align more closely with the traditional Democratic Party than with its increasingly progressive wing.

The comments came after Fetterman said at last week’s Hill Nation Summit that he could leave the Democratic Party if it officially abandoned support for Israel. He said that if Democrats became an anti-Israel party, it would be a line he could not cross, describing his support for Israel as a matter of moral clarity.

Fetterman has frequently criticized growing anti-Israel sentiment among some progressive Democrats and said he is concerned the party could eventually distance itself from one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East. He has questioned why many Democrats have become increasingly critical of Israel despite the long-standing relationship between the two countries.

Despite those disagreements, Fetterman has repeatedly said he has no immediate plans to leave the Democratic Party. He has emphasized that he continues to support many core Democratic priorities, including abortion rights, organized labor, LGBTQ rights, marijuana legalization, and social assistance programs. In a recent opinion piece, he wrote that his values have not changed and pledged to continue working across the aisle while remaining true to his convictions.

The last senators to leave the Democratic Party were Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both of whom became independents while continuing to caucus with Democrats. The Democratic caucus also includes independent Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.

One of the most notable modern party switches occurred in 2009, when former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter left the Republican Party to become a Democrat after concluding he was unlikely to win a Republican primary for reelection.