Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was seen by some Democrats at the start of 2025 as a possible contender for the 2028 presidential primary. 

But lately Fetterman has fallen out of favor with Democrats as he has increasingly bucked the party on a number of issues. 

On the government shutdown, Fetterman has openly questioned Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s (N.Y.) strategy of insisting on an extension of expiring, enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for funding the government.

Fetterman has repeatedly voted for the funding bill approved by the House GOP, along with Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats.

And while his colleagues haven’t been shy about bashing President Trump and his policies, Fetterman has refused to get on board. 

On Thursday, Fetterman, who has been a steadfast supporter of Israel, congratulated Trump on a “historic” peace deal between the nation and Hamas.

“If you want a Democrat that’s going to call people Nazis or fascists or all these kinds of things … I’m not going to be that guy,” Fetterman said in an interview earlier this month on Fox News.

Fetterman’s views have not sat well with Democrats, who predict that he will face a tough primary if he runs for reelection in 2028. 

“Fetterman got elected on economic populism and turned into a MAGA apologist,” said one top Democratic strategist. “I see no way he avoids the primary in 2028.” 

A Quinnipiac University poll out earlier this month showed that Fetterman is underwater with Democrats in his state. 

The survey revealed that 54 percent of Democrats in Pennsylvania said they disapproved of the job Fetterman is doing, while a third approve of his job performance. It’s a massive shift from a survey last year, which showed Fetterman had an 80 percent job approval rating among Democrats in the state while 10 percent disapproved. 

At the same time, Fetterman is garnering support from Republicans in the state, with 62 percent saying they approve of Fetterman’s job performance, while 21 percent disapprove. 

“Many Democrats are not in love with John Fetterman’s recent positioning, so he’s taking a gamble,” said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons. 

While having some credibility with Republican voters in his state will ultimately serve him well because it can help put him over the top in a possible reelection campaign, “the danger is that he offends too many Democrats and they’re not excited to vote for him on Election Day,” Simmons said.

When he was elected in 2022, most Democrats viewed Fetterman — who often dons a hoodie and shorts to work — as a progressive. The senator also dubbed himself a “progressive Democrat.” 

But gradually, at least as some Democrats see it, he shed the label and shifted more to the right, angering some in his party. 

Now Democrats see him going the way of former Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, who was a moderate Democrat before he left the party last year and registered as an independent. 

“Many Democrats feel betrayed,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon. “He ran as a fiery blue-collar liberal, which created the possibility that was hope for working-class progressive populism.” 

“He dashed those dreams with his move to the middle,” Bannon added 

Fetterman has maintained that he has no intention of leaving the Democratic Party. 

“No I’m not going to switch,” he told Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” last week. In other interviews he has softly admonished his own party for not realizing why they find themselves rudderless. 

“They have forgotten one of the reasons why we lost in 2024,” Fetterman told CNN’s Manu Raju on “Inside Politics” earlier this month. “Some people think now we have to double down on those things or we must become more progressive or more extreme. That’s absolutely not true.” 

“The seven or eight states that are going to determine who’s going to be our next president, you know, we have to win in those states, and I understand what it takes,” he continued.

During the government shutdown fight, Fetterman has argued that Democrats, who are in the minority in both chambers, didn’t have much leverage and risked handing more power to Trump to furlough federal workers and slash agencies without government approval. 

In interviews, some Democratic senators said Fetterman is out of step with most of the party. 

“He’s irrelevant,” said one Democratic senator who requested anonymity to discuss Fetterman’s impact on the party’s shutdown posture. “I don’t mean that in a mean way. … He’s only been in one caucus meeting as far as I know.” 

Other Democrats declined to comment about Fetterman’s standing in the party given his slumping job approval numbers. “I can tell you I haven’t talked to a single Democratic voter about John Fetterman,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) also declined to comment on Fetterman. 

But on the shutdown, he said that Senate Democrats are largely unified behind Schumer’s staunch position on health care.

Murphy said Democratic voters were “not happy” with a group of Senate Democrats — including Schumer and Fetterman — who voted in March for a six-month government funding bill drafted in the House without any Democratic input. 

“They want to see us standing up for what we believe in,” Murphy said. 

Simmons said Fetterman still has time to appeal to the Democratic base. But luring Republicans to support him could also help. 

“A smart candidate in this environment will look for ways to steal just enough Republicans,” he said. 

Alexander Bolton contributed