Sen. John Fetterman has been “doing well” since he checked himself right into a Washington, DC hospital earlier this month to receive treatment for clinical depression, the lawmaker’s spokesman said Monday.
Joe Calvello, Fetterman’s director of communications, provided the positive update, but signaled that the freshman Democratic lawmaker won’t be back on the Senate floor anytime soon.
“We don’t have quite a bit to update folks with since there’s no real news to report except that John is doing well, working with the wonderful doctors, and stays on a path to recovery,” Calvello said in a tweet Monday.
“John is visiting with staff and family day by day, and his staff are keeping him updated on Senate business and news,” he added.
Calvello noted that Fetterman’s team has been “moving full speed ahead” despite the senator’s hospitalization, opening a latest office in Erie, Pa., last week.
“We understand the extraordinary interest in John’s status and particularly appreciate the flood of well-wishes. Nevertheless, as we now have said this can be a weeks-long process and while we’ll be sure you keep folks updated because it progresses, that is all there may be to provide by the use of an update,” Calvello’s update concluded.
Fetterman’s public health problems began May 13 of last yr, when he suffered a stroke through the closing days of Pennsylvania’s Senate primary campaign, leaving him with hearing and other auditory processing issues that dogged him throughout his successful general election campaign against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Just weeks after being sworn into the Senate, the 53-year-old senator was hospitalized on Feb. 8 after feeling lightheaded during a Democratic Party retreat. He was released from the hospital two days later, and his office said that doctors had ruled out that he had suffered one other stroke.
Just days later, Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment for depression.
”While John has experienced depression on and off throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Fetterman chief of staff Adam Jentleson wrote on Twitter on the time, adding that Capitol attending physician Brian Monahan examined Fetterman as well and “really helpful inpatient care.”
“After examining John, the doctors at Walter Reed [National Military Medical Center] told us that John is getting the care he needs, and can soon be back to himself,” Jentleson concluded.
If Fetterman’s health problems render him unfit to serve, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro would need to appoint a substitute and a special election could be held in 2024 to pick out a candidate to complete out the rest of Fetterman’s six-year term.
