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John Fetterman poised to flip and become Republican ‘majority-maker’: ex-chief of staff

Sen. John Fetterman's increasingly independent political moves are drawing concern from Senate colleagues and raising questions about whether the Pennsylvania Democrat might eventually leave his party.
Fetterman said last week he would formally switch his party affiliation if Democrats make opposition to Israel part of their official platform — the first time he's laid out specific conditions for departing – and he pointed to recent contested primaries as evidence the party is shifting toward candidates who are "intensely anti-Israel," not just critical of its policies.
One Democratic senator, speaking anonymously to NOTUS, said, "I am concerned" about the prospect of Fetterman switching parties unexpectedly.
Fetterman has also set up a joint fundraising committee with Republican Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), an arrangement that struck colleagues as unusual. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said he'd "never seen it before." Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), a progressive who has left open the possibility of challenging Fetterman in 2028, called the move "crazy stuff," arguing it helps Republicans in battleground Pennsylvania races.
Fetterman brushed off the arrangement as "nothing sinister," rooted in shared state interests, and fired back at Deluzio over the congressman's earlier campaign donation to Graham Platner, the Maine Senate candidate who dropped out amid a sexual assault allegation he denies.
The senator has increasingly clashed with his party over Israel, the Iran war, and border security, and recently expressed regret for once calling to eliminate the filibuster, praising former Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for opposing its removal.
His standing among Pennsylvania Democrats has slipped sharply — a Quinnipiac poll found his approval at just 19% among Democrats, with 52 percent of voters overall saying they want him to leave the party.
Adam Jentleson, Fetterman's former chief of staff, said he believes Fetterman might switch parties "in order to stay relevant," particularly if Democrats win a narrow Senate majority in November and Fetterman could become a decisive vote. Jentleson also warned Fetterman could side with Republicans on a future Supreme Court nomination.
“I think, if he is the majority-maker, he will flip, because it would give him a massive amount of attention,” said Jentleson, who last year expressed concerns about Fetterman's mental health.
Other Democrats pushed back on the switching narrative. Sen. Peter Welch noted Fetterman "votes Democratic all the time," while Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) urged him to stay, saying his positions still align more with Democrats than Republicans on balance.
“I would just encourage him to stay,” Heinrich said. “I think you can have policy differences, but on balance, with the exception of one or two issues, when you look at what he cares about, I think that looks a lot more like the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. He’s always, always welcome in our caucus.”
Larry David sparks internet firestorm with ‘genius’ sketch-comedy roast of RFK Jr.

Comedy legend Larry David ridiculed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a hysterical sketch delivering laughs online.
David, who was formerly a personal friend of Kennedy's and even played the husband of Kennedy's real-life wife, actress Cheryl Hines, on the popular show "Curb Your Enthusiasm," made it clear what he thought about the Trump official. He appeared to tell his character in the spoof to "drop dead" in one segment of his new HBO series, "Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America."
In the sketch, David casts himself as the mother of Jonas Salk — an American virologist and biomedical scientist who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines — who gets into a fighting match with neighbor "Bobby," who has a similar-sounding voice and tan as the health secretary.
The internet reacted to the brutal burn.
"Holy s---, Larry David absolutely COOKED RFK Jr's stupid a--, playing Dr. Jonas Salk's mom, saying it would be a 'dark day for humanity' if some idiot ever put HIM in charge of health. This is HILARIOUS!" The X account BrooklynDad_Defiant!, which has more than 1.3 million followers, wrote.
"The bear part is by far the best SICKO!" Journalist Meghan McCarthy wrote on X.
"Larry David is a flat out genius," Eric Land, a political commentator with nearly 10,000 followers, wrote on X.
"Larry David casting himself as Salk's mom is the kind of absurdly precise satire that makes the point better than any actual policy debate could. It's the only way to fight that level of chaos," author Hüseyin Örskaya wrote on X.
Holy sh*t, Larry David absolutely COOKED RFK Jr's stupid ass, playing Dr. Jonas Salk's mom, saying it would be a "dark day for humanity" if some idiot ever put HIM in charge of health.
This is HILARIOUS!🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ISXt211QxL
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) July 20, 2026

