Senator John Fetterman proposing challenges to other Democrats after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks during a campaign event in York, Pa., Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — When Democrat John Fetterman got elected to Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, many backers hoped he’d challenge convention and the status quo.

He did and has — just not in the way many had expected.

Fetterman has broken with his party on some policy matters and warmed to President-elect Donald Trump, a man he bashed on the 2024 campaign trail as a “felon” who is “obsessed with revenge.” Fetterman later became the first Senate Democrat to meet with Trump since the election.

In fact, Fetterman has warmed to Trump so much that some in his party are quietly disavowing the man they supported in 2022, when the Pennsylvanian easily won a three-candidate primary and survived a stroke amid a high-pressure campaign to become the only Democrat to flip a Republican Senate seat that year.

Christine Jacobs, who founded Represent PA, an organization to help elect Democratic women to Pennsylvania’s legislature, said the Democrats she’s talking to are both disappointed and concerned by Fetterman’s dalliance with Trump.

Their worry, Jacobs said, is that “Trump can say he’s talking to Democrats like John Fetterman, but it’s not going to change what he does and it’ll end up looking like John Fetterman’s being used.”

Fetterman’s approach is reminding some Democrats of former Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both of whom clashed with their party during President Joe Biden’s term, became political independents and didn’t run for reelection.

Still, Fetterman — who often mocked Manchin during his 2022 Senate run — isn’t the only one adjusting to the new political reality.

Democrats are grappling with election losses across battleground states, including Pennsylvania, that gave Trump and his party control of the White House and Congress. Democrats are weighing how much to challenge Trump and whether to embrace some of his policies as they try to rebuild their coalition.

“I haven’t changed my core values throughout out all this,” Fetterman told KDKA-AM radio in Pittsburgh on Thursday. But, he said, engaging with Republicans is “one of the reasons why they elected me, they wanted me to do these things.”

Now Pennsylvania’s senior senator, Fetterman had a difficult start to his Senate career. He was diagnosed with auditory processing disorder, a complication from the stroke, and checked himself into the hospital for depression just one month after taking office.

Six weeks later, Fetterman returned to the Senate seemingly transformed — joking with colleagues and shedding his suit-and-tie for the hoodies and shorts that had long been his trademark.

He quickly made waves — for instance, lambasting then-Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., for remaining in office while facing bribery charges. Menendez was convicted last year.

After Hamas attacked Israel, Fetterman became an outspoken supporter of Israel on an issue that had firmly divided Democrats.

Now, Fetterman has become the only Senate Democrat to meet with Trump, after flying to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last weekend. Fetterman said it was only reasonable to meet with the incoming president in what Fetterman has described as a good and honest conversation that lasted for over an hour.

“And I can only see good things emerging from that,” Fetterman told KDKA.

For his part, Trump told the Washington Examiner that they had a “totally fascinating meeting” and that Fetterman is a “commonsense person” and “not liberal or conservative.”

Some Democrats say Fetterman is a smart politician who is acknowledging political reality.

Mustafa Rashed, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist, said Pennsylvania should be considered a Republican state after Trump’s second victory there in three tries and the GOP’s down-ballot trouncing of Democrats in November’s statewide races.

“He’s in a red state,” Rashed said. “Of course he’s got to go meet with him. And if you want to continue to represent a red state, of course you’ve got to meet with the president.”

Fetterman — who is among 10 Senate Democrats representing states won by Trump — is distinguishing himself in other ways.

He’s met with several of Trump’s Cabinet picks — unlike his fellow Democrats — and pledged to vote for some, even posing for photos with a thumb’s-up, which Trump often strikes in photos with well-wishers.

Fetterman is also not dismissing Trump’s eyebrow-raising idea of acquiring Greenland, the massive and rare earth mineral-rich Danish territory. On Fox News, Fetterman called buying Greenland “a responsible conversation” and compared it to the Louisiana Purchase.

He co-sponsored a GOP bill to detain unauthorized immigrants accused of certain crimes and helped get it past a procedural hurdle in the Senate. Amid brewing Democratic opposition, Fetterman remarked on Fox News that if enough Democrats couldn’t join with Republicans to pass the bill “then that’s a reason why we lost” the 2024 election.

Democratic strategists note Fetterman forged his political career largely on his own, independently from the party.

As a small-town mayor in Braddock, Fetterman became a minor celebrity for his looks — he’s 6-foot-8 and tattooed with a shaved head — and his efforts to put the depressed former steel town back on the map.

He endorsed insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in 2016’s presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in 2016’s Senate primary. When the state Democratic Party looked to endorse a candidate in 2022’s three-way primary, Fetterman shrugged it off as an “inside game.”

Jamie Perrapato, executive director of Turn PA Blue, which helps organize and train campaign volunteers, said she’s seeing a lot of outrage on the left over Fetterman engaging with Trump. But nobody should be surprised, she said.

Fetterman is a “wild card,” Perrapato said, and if anyone thought he’d fall in line with Senate Democratic leadership, “they were crazy.”

Fetterman’s drift has given rise to whispers that he may change his registration.

Last month, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Fetterman said that he’s not leaving the Democratic Party, but that meeting Trump nominees and aligning with some GOP policy views is part of “representing the kind of state that we have in Pennsylvania.”

Still, Fetterman hasn’t backed away from his bedrock issues, such as support for labor unions, abortion rights or LGBT rights.

He has had close relationships with some top Pennsylvania Democrats, including former Sen. Bob Casey, and Jim Burn, a former state Democratic Party chairman, said Fetterman campaigned hard for Vice President Kamala Harris before she lost to Trump.

“Nobody can say John Fetterman was hedging bets for the Republicans,” Burn said, “because he was working his tail off for Kamala Harris all over the state.”

Pittsburgh artist Darren Milliner will reveal his art exhibit and workshop in Beaver Falls

(Photo Provided with Release)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) On Saturday, January 25th from 5-9 p.m., Pittsburgh artist Darrin Milliner will have an art exhibit and a workshop at the Baby Bello building on 9th Avenue in Beaver Falls. The exhibit is called Catalyst, which highlights the topic of change in assemblages, collages, and media art. Milliner will also have an artist talk at 7 p.m. A $10 donation is also suggested at the event. You can register online, and the link to do so can be found below.

Click here to register at this link: Events | The Baby Bello

 

TSA intercepts over 6,600 firearms in airports in 2024

(File photo of Transportation Security Administration Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Washington, D.C.) According to a release from the Transportation Security Administration, TSA intercepted a total of 6,678 firearms at airport security checkpoints in 2024 out of 904 million people screened. Penalties include a fine that could reach up to $14,950 and the eligibility for TSA precheck being revoked for five years or more. There could also be a citation or arrest from officers depending on the scenario. 

Hopewell School Board hire football coach for this season and made several hiring and tax decisions

(File Photo of Hopewell Area School District logo)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Hopewell, PA) The Hopewell School Board made decisions regardingathletic positions at their Tuesday work session. Matt Mottes was unanimously picked as the Hopewell football coach for the 2025-2026 season. Terry Borkovic was hired as the volleyball coach for the junior high school team, while Lexi Thompson got hired as the assistant coach. Erica Herrinton was hired after being a long -term special education teacher at the junior high school. Christopher Keiper, who is the high school band  director, resigned effective May 30th, 2025. Keiper will continue as the music teacher at the junior high school. The board also adopted a resolution certifying that they will not raise tax rates for the support of public schools more than  PA’s Act 1 index limit, which is 2.5% for  the 2025-26 school year. The next session for the Hopewell School Board is on Tuesday, January 28th at 7 p.m.

A convicted felon from Glassport pleads guilty for possessing a firearm after having felony offenses

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced Wednesday that a man from Glassport pleaded guilty of possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Thirty-three-year-old Rashee Beasley possessed a loaded firearm that was stolen on October 27th, 2022 after being convicted of several felony offenses. Olshan states Beasley will be sentenced on May 14, 2025 and he could receive up to a fifteen year prison sentence, a $250,000 fine, or both provided by the law. 

Matzie and two other State Representatives introduce legislation to prohibit entities from fees for printed financial statements

(File Photo of State Representative Rob Matzie speaking)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) State Representative Rob Matzie and State Representatives Arvind Venkat and Tom Mehaffie started legislation on Tuesday that prohibits entities from finding fees for customers who want a printed financial statement. The fees go up to $5 every month and a bill known as House Bill 81 states that incentives can be made for a person or entity to choose another option instead of a paper statement. Costumers need to give consent before switching to an electronic statement.

McKeesport man given eighteen year prison sentence for disobeying federal narcotics laws

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced on Wednesday that a man from McKeesport was given an eighteen-year prison sentence for disobeying laws involving federal narcotics. Olshan stated that fifty-five-year-old Frank McClellan was accused of giving out cocaine, a cocaine base, and a Schedule II controlled substance between March and September of 2021. McClellan will also have a supervised release of five years following his time in jail. 

 

Nonprofits want President Joe Biden to act on Equal Rights Amendment before he leaves the U.S. President’s Office

(File Photo: Source for photo: President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Harrisburg, PA) With just a few days before President Joe Biden leaves office, more than 140 nonprofits are urging him to act on the Equal Rights Amendment. Passed by Congress in 1972 and ratified by 38 states by 2020, the ERA ensures constitutional gender equality. Amy Widestrom of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania says it prohibits discrimination based on sex, empowers Congress to enforce it, and takes effect two years after ratification. Widestrom points out some argue the ERA missed its congressional deadline, but legal scholars say the Constitution doesn’t allow or require such deadlines for amendments. They point to the 27th Amendment, introduced with the Bill of Rights and ratified centuries later, as proof deadlines are not binding.

Senator Elder Vogel Jr. reappointed to several Senate committees

(File Photo of Senator Elder Vogel, Jr.)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release from Senator Elder Vogel Jr’s office, Vogel has been reappointed to five Senate committees. Vogel is now the Agriculture and Rural Affairs chair and is on the Appropriations Committee as its vice chair. Vogel will look over issues in communities that are rural in Pennsylvania and make progress for the state budget. Vogel will also be a member of the Transportation, Environmental Resources and Energy, and Banking and Insurance committees. 

WPIAL announces 2025 Hall of Fame class

(File Photo of WPIAL logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The WPIAL announced their Hall of Fame class of 2025 this week. The list includes a former Beaver County athlete and a coach. Those two are Ty Law, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who played for Aliquippa and Dori Oldaker, who coached for Blackhawk in basketball. According to the WPIAL, here is the full list of the fifteen members of their 2025 Hall of Fame Class.

Athletes:

  • Charel Allen
    Monessen basketball
  • Russ Grimm
    Southmoreland football, basketball, track
  • Ty Law
    Aliquippa football
  • Spencer Lee
    Franklin Regional wrestling
  • Ron Semkiw
    Baldwin track
  • Brooke Stewart
    East Allegheny basketball
  • Rodney Wilson
    West Greene football, track, wrestling

Coaches

  • Dori Oldaker
    Blackhawk and Mt. Lebanon basketball
  • Rich Saccani
    Upper St. Clair tennis

Courage

  • Aiden Hanna
    Hampton baseball and golf

Contributor

  • Terry Kushner

Official

  • Rick Locaitis
    football, basketball, baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball

Heritage

  • Trilby Busch
    Munhall rifle

Teams

  • 1984 Seton LaSalle girls’ basketball
  • 2012 North Allegheny football