John Fetterman, recovering after stroke, labors to adjust to life in the Senate.
Fetterman, 53, the 6-foot-8, tattooed and goateed Democrat from Pennsylvania who suffered a near-fatal stroke last May and went on to win one of the most competitive seats in November’s midterm elections, was never going to blend in seamlessly in the marbled corridors of Congress.
Fetterman declined to be interviewed for this story. But aides and confidants describe his introduction to the Senate as a difficult period, filled with unfamiliar duties that are taxing for someone still in recovery: meetings with constituents, attending caucus and committee meetings, appearing in public at White House events and at the State of the Union address, as well as making appearances in Pennsylvania.The most evident disability is a neurological condition that impairs his hearing.
The ongoing hearing issue means Fetterman cannot partake in the hallway scrums with journalists that are part of most lawmakers’ daily existence in the Capitol. He typically walks around the building with many staffers, in part because he needs assistants to test his technological setup before he enters any room and in part because they’re all still learning their way around the building.
The attacks during the campaign — Fox News’ Tucker Carlson called him “unapologetically brain damaged” and Republicans accused him of lying about his health — also are never far out of mind. Some of those aspersions continue; the Republican National Committee blasted out a clip this month of Fetterman tripping over the word “water” at an event announcing $340 million in federal funding for Philadelphia to modernize its water infrastructure.
At his first Agriculture Committee hearing this month, Fetterman asked questions about trade and organic farming, stumbling slightly over his words. Despite the flubs, his office circulated video of his presentation to supporters. She was wearing boots, jeans and a Carhartt jacket. Fetterman, much to her chagrin, was dressed in a business suit instead of his signature hoodie.
He compared the accommodations being made for Fetterman with the Senate installing a ramp for Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a former combat veteran who lost her legs in 2004 while serving as a helicopter pilot in the Iraq War.
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