Senior staffers sent their resignation notices to Sen. John Fetterman as the Pennsylvania Democratic lawmaker has shifted his stance to be more moderate on key policy issues.
Deputy communications director Nick Gavio left Mr. Fetterman’s employ late last week, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. His recent departure followed those of Mr. Fetterman’s former communications director, Joe Calvello, and press aide, Emma Mustion, earlier this month.
However, the new jobs his now former staffers accepted give a clue that they were likely uncomfortable with his more recent centrist positions, which include staunchly supporting Israel with its fight against Hamas and favoring tougher immigration and border policies.
Mr. Gavio went on to work for the left-wing Working Families Party, while Mr. Calvello had previously announced his employment in the office of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The Working Families Party includes Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic progressive lawmakers, including Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
Mr. Calvello praised his new boss in a statement as a “true progressive.”
“Mayor Johnson is a true progressive who is committed to fighting for the working people and families of the City of Chicago, and I am deeply honored to join his administration,” Mr. Calvello said.
Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, hired Emma Mustion to work on his re-election campaign.
Mr. Fetterman, the 6’8” hoodie-wearing senator, ran as a progressive candidate in 2022 with endorsements from Sen. Bernard Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont, and “squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat.
In a December interview with NBC News, Mr. Fetterman indicated that he is “not a progressive.”
“I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that,” he said.
“And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to address it as well effectively. It’s a reasonable conversation — until somebody can say there’s an explanation on what we can do when 270,000 people are being encountered on the border, not including the ones, of course, that we don’t know about.”
He noted that number is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania.
The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Fetterman’s office for comment but did not hear back.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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