Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) defended his decision to vote for legislation reopening the federal government during a tense exchange with The View co-host Sunny Hostin on Tuesday, after she accused him of surrendering leverage in negotiations with Republicans.

The appearance came one day after Fetterman joined seven other senators in voting for an updated continuing resolution to end the 41-day shutdown, marking the longest in U.S. history.

The bill passed with bipartisan support in the Senate and is expected to move through the House later this week.

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Hostin began the interview by referencing recent criticism from within the Democratic Party, quoting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who both argued that the shutdown should have continued until Republicans agreed to extend enhanced healthcare subsidies.

She also noted that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) had blamed Republicans for the impasse.

“As you mentioned, Democrats had big wins last week, so you had momentum. Why give in now? Why bring a butter knife to a gunfight?” Hostin asked.

“Are you willing to gamble that the GOP will negotiate on healthcare in good faith once the government reopens? Because if that gamble is wrong, half a million Pennsylvanians that you represent, their healthcare costs will skyrocket if you are wrong. I believe you are wrong.”

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Fetterman, who has consistently voted with Republicans to end the shutdown, rejected Hostin’s characterization and defended his stance as one focused on the needs of working families.

“MTG is quite literally the last person in America that I’m going to take advice or to get their kinds of my leadership and values from,” he said, referring to Greene.

“Now, if Democrats are celebrating crazy pants like that, then that’s on them. Now, I don’t need a lecture from, whether it’s Bernie or the governor in California, because they are representing very deep-blue kinds of populations and a lot of those things were part of the extreme.”

Fetterman pointed to the human impact of the shutdown, particularly on low-income families and federal workers.

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“Forty-two million Americans now are not sure where their next meal is going to come from, and because we vote like that. Or people that haven’t been paid for five weeks now, and that kinds of chaos. Those workers borrow more than half a billion dollars from their credit union just to pay their bills,” he said.

He also cited Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, who recently cautioned Democrats not to misinterpret last week’s election victories as justification for continuing the shutdown.

“I refuse to weaponize the SNAP benefit for 42 million Americans that rely on feeding themselves and their family, or making flying in America, you know, less safe, or I refuse not to pay our military and all of the unions attached to all of this, and people,” Fetterman said.

“So for me it’s like I don’t agree with that tactic to respond to circumstances that we’re confronting on this.”

Fetterman’s position places him among a small group of Democrats — including Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) — who broke ranks with their party leadership to vote in favor of ending the shutdown.

Hostin has been vocal in her criticism of Senate Democrats who supported reopening the government, saying Monday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s leadership was “over” and that he should be replaced after failing to keep the caucus unified.

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Fetterman previously wrote on social media in early October that his votes reflected a choice to “put country over party,” citing the immediate consequences of withholding SNAP benefits and military pay as key factors.

The continuing resolution approved by the Senate will fund the government through early 2026, providing appropriations for major departments including Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and Defense, while also setting up a December vote to address the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits that initially divided the parties.

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