Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., wrote in a Washington Post column that he now believes Democrats were wrong to try to eliminate the Senate filibuster.
"It's not often you hear someone in D.C. admit they were wrong, let alone horribly wrong — and the entire Democratic Party was, including me," Fetterman wrote.
He wrote that Senate Democrats attempted to end the 60-vote threshold to advance former President Joe Biden's agenda, an effort he fully supported during his 2022 campaign. Halfway through his first term, Fetterman wrote he now recognizes the filibuster's importance and the state the country would be in without it.
Fetterman wrote that pursuing short-term wins had clouded "the bigger picture and lasting impact of a Senate without the filibuster — a Senate that ignored the voices of the minority and everyday people."
He wrote that former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III have been vindicated for defending the rule despite being "vilified by the Democratic Party" and damaging their political careers in the process.
Fetterman wrote the filibuster is "a critical line of defense" against President Donald Trump having "a fill-in-the-blank government with new laws, deregulation or procedures of its choosing."
He wrote that he now agrees with Manchin's assessment that scrapping the rule is part of "extreme election-year politics that put party power over everything else," adding that Democrats "cannot become a smaller version of the House of Representatives."
Fetterman's column argued that without the filibuster, Republicans could have enacted "extreme policies such as nationwide abortion restrictions, backpedaling on LGBT rights, repeal of birthright citizenship and limited voting rights across the country."
If Democrats retake the Senate majority in the midterms, Fetterman wrote, the party will still lack the votes to override the threshold alone and must work with Republicans.
He wrote that engaging with the minority party "isn't a bug — it's one of the best features of the Senate."
The column follows Fetterman's earlier defense of his support for Israel. Speaking at the Hill Nation Summit in Washington in mid-July, Fetterman said he has no plans to leave the Democratic Party but would do so if it became explicitly anti-Israel.
"If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that's when I would leave because that's been a moral clarity for me," he explained.
Fetterman said his "long-term concern" is that the Democratic Party is turning its back on Israel while facing pressure from its progressive base.
Trump, who has taken to referring to Democrats as "Dumocrats," predicted on July 10 that it will be Republicans who will look dumb should the left retake control of the Senate and end the filibuster rule.
Trump wrote a scathing Truth Social post focusing on the issue.
He said he's protesting Senate Republicans' refusal to end the filibuster to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast ballots.