As Republican Pat Toomey left the first Pennsylvania Senate seat to become vacant in years, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman leaped at the chance to run for House in November 2022. His opponent was the well-known Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, who was considered a formidable candidate for the congressional seat representing the swing state.

Since May 2022, when Fetterman suffered a stroke while campaigning, he has had persistent difficulties with auditory processing. In order to have a pacemaker implanted, he was off the campaign trail for two months, making only video appearances. Following a brief absence from the campaign trail, he returned in time for a few fundraisers and a catastrophic debate against his Trump-backed GOP opponent, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz. After that, Fetterman returned on the road, utilizing closed captioning for several interviews.

One month after his inauguration to the Senate, Fetterman was hospitalized in Washington, D.C. owing to lightheadedness. Conservative Brief claims that the Democrat returned to the hospital the following week to receive therapy for serious depression.

Last Monday, Fetterman’s staff talked with NBC News for a report on the senator being hospitalized for the second time in two weeks and stated that resignation “never discussed and is not on the table.”

His office released a statement:

“While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson, Fetterman’s Chief of Staff said when his team announced the senator’s situation on Thursday. “After examining John, the doctors at Walter Reed told us that John is getting the care he needs, and will soon be back to himself,” he said, but he did not indicate how long the senator would be on the shelf.

“On Monday, John was evaluated by Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress. Yesterday, Dr. Monahan recommended inpatient care at Walter Reed. John agreed, and he is receiving treatment on a voluntary basis,” Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson said in a statement, as reported by CNN at the time.

There are demands for Fetterman to resign owing to his health issues, but Pennsylvania’s new Democratic governor refuses to move to replace sick Sen. John Fetterman, despite his more frequent hospitalizations for a variety of treatments.

Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro stated this week that he will not ask Fetterman to resign, despite Fetterman’s recent health difficulties relating to last year’s severe stroke and hospitalization this week for clinical depression.

Shapiro told The Inquirer that he would “immediately ignore” any request from Democrats to urge Fetterman to resign. He believes Fetterman will “return stronger than ever” following his hospitalization, which is anticipated to span several weeks. Shapiro told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “He’s going to receive the care he needs… and do a terrific job for the people of Pennsylvania for a long time as their senator.”

The network added that Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News contributor and professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, stated that it is doubtful that Fetterman will be able to return to work in the near future.

“It’s both biochemical and psychological and sociological, and a lot of pressure on him trying to perform up to the level of a US senator, whatever that means these days,” he said after reports noted that Fetterman had checked in for mental health care, Conservative Brief noted.

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

Siegel noted he is “not his doctor” and therefore does not “know exactly what prompted this,” but went on to say that if the Pennsylvania Democrat “feels that he needs to be in a hospital, then I would conclude or infer that the level of depression is significant enough so that he really can’t go back to work anytime in the immediate future.”

CNN reports that Dr. Will Cronenwett, Chief of Psychiatry at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine addressed Fetterman’s condition in a news release on Friday, saying in part, “A lot of people with stroke have to adjust to a new reality of what their body and brain can do. And in some people that adjustment can lead to depression.” CONTINUE READING…