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But during a recent appearance on Katie Miller’s podcast, the Pennsylvania senator offered a remarkable reversal.
“One thing I was absolutely wrong on,” Fetterman said, “is that in my cycle, in ’22, we were running to eliminate the filibuster.”
That statement alone would have surprised many Democrats.
What came next was even more significant.
For years, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema faced intense criticism from their own party for refusing to support ending the filibuster. They were attacked by activists, targeted by progressive groups, and accused of standing in the way of Democratic priorities.
Now Fetterman says they were right all along.
“Senator Sinema and Manchin were vindicated by this,” Fetterman said.
The acknowledgment amounts to a complete reversal from the position many Democrats embraced only a few years ago.
Why the Filibuster Debate Matters
The battle over the filibuster was never simply about Senate procedure.
It was about power.
Democrats argued that removing the 60-vote threshold would allow Congress to move legislation more efficiently. Critics warned that eliminating the rule would dramatically weaken protections for the minority party and turn the Senate into a body driven entirely by whichever side held a temporary majority.
Fetterman now appears to agree with those warnings.
“If we lose the filibuster, then the rights of the minority – whether that will be Democrat or Republican minority – would have effectively little to no voice,” he said. “And if we become a smaller version of the House, that would have profound ramifications for the United States, and that would be dangerous.”
Those are not the words of a Republican senator.
They are the words of a Democrat who once campaigned on doing the exact opposite.
History Already Provided a Warning
Supporters of the filibuster point to a lesson Democrats learned the hard way during the Obama years.
In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushed through the so-called nuclear option, removing the filibuster for many presidential nominations.
Republicans warned the move would eventually backfire.
It did.
When Republicans later gained control of the Senate, they used the precedent Reid created to confirm conservative judges and ultimately secure the confirmations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Those appointments helped shape the Supreme Court for decades and played a major role in overturning Roe v. Wade.
What looked like a short-term political victory became a long-term strategic loss.
Many conservatives see Fetterman’s comments as an acknowledgment that the same mistake nearly happened again.
Democrats Now Depend on the Rule They Once Wanted Destroyed
Perhaps the most politically awkward part of the story is what Democrats are doing today.
The same party that spent years attacking the filibuster is now relying on it.
Senate Democrats have repeatedly used the procedure to block Republican-backed legislation, including efforts related to election integrity and voter citizenship requirements.
Fetterman himself highlighted the contradiction last year when Democrats repeatedly utilized the rule they previously claimed was a threat to democracy.
“We ran on that,” Fetterman told reporters. “We ran on killing the filibuster, and now we love it. I don’t want to hear any Democrat clutching their pearls about the filibuster.”
That statement cut directly to the heart of the issue.
When Democrats were in power, many wanted the rule eliminated.
When they found themselves in the minority, the same rule suddenly became valuable.
A Debate That Is Far From Over
While Fetterman has clearly changed his position, many progressive leaders have not.
The party’s activist wing continues pushing for major institutional changes, including court expansion and filibuster reform.
For conservatives, that makes Fetterman’s comments particularly important.
His reversal serves as a reminder that today’s majority can quickly become tomorrow’s minority.
The Senate’s unique structure was designed to slow rapid political swings and force compromise between competing interests.
Whether Americans agree or disagree with specific policies, Fetterman’s remarks highlight a reality Washington often forgets: rules created to protect one side today may be the same rules protecting the other side tomorrow.
That is the lesson Manchin and Sinema tried to deliver in 2022.
At the time, few Democrats wanted to hear it.
Now one of their own senators is publicly admitting they were right.
