As Senate Democrats last week agonized over a looming vote that could boost deportations of immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., the first Democrat to sponsor the Republican-led measure wasn't even in the room.
Instead, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last Thursday behind a different set of closed doors with Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general. Television crews waited outside, eager to ask Fetterman about the news that he planned to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago, becoming the only Democratic senator so far known to meet with him after the election.
"If somebody is shocked or freaked out if I'm going to take a conversation with the president, I'd like to remind you that I'm not just for Democrats-I'm for everyone," Fetterman said in an interview.
After all, he said, "Most Pennsylvanians chose Donald Trump as our next president." After the meeting, Trump told the Washington Examiner that Fetterman was "a fascinating man, and his wife is lovely."
Trump went on to say that "he's not liberal or conservative. He's just a commonsense person, which is beautiful."
The unconventional senator, whose political stances have sometimes exasperated progressives, has emerged as the Democrat most open to working with the incoming administration.
Last week, his endorsement of the immigration bill marked the start of a stampede of Democrats to open debate on the measure, while also raising concern within the party that lawmakers were tacking too far right.
As Democrats regroup following the loss of the Senate and the White House, Fetterman argues that some of Trump's ideas deserve consideration.
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