Sen. Fetterman Hospitalized After Incident Near PA Home

BRADDOCK, PA — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman was hospitalized on Thursday after falling near his home in Braddock, according to a statement from his spokesperson.

Fetterman's office said the Democratic senator fell during an early-morning walk and was taken to a hospital in Pittsburgh out of an abundance of caution.

After he was evaluated, doctors determined Fetterman had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to him feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face. The senator suffered minor injuries.

Sen. Fetterman had this to say: ‘If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!’" his spokesperson said in a statement shared on social media. "He is doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital. He has opted to stay so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen."

The incident happened just days after Fetterman broke ranks with his fellow Democrats and voted on controversial legislation that would reopen the government.

Fetterman, who was elected in 2022, criticized Democrats for using the shutdown to demand concessions on health care.

“I’m sorry to our military, SNAP recipients, gov workers, and Capitol Police who haven’t been paid in weeks,” he said on social media. “It should’ve never come to this. This was a failure.”

In May 2022, the former lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania suffered a stroke before the Senate election and underwent surgery for a pacemaker with a defibrillator to help regulate his heart rhythm.

Fetterman has since been in and out of hospitals. In February 2023, he checked into Walter Reed National Military Center to receive treatment for clinical depression.

Fetterman told CBS's Jane Pauley that before his hospitalization for clinical depression, he had stopped leaving his bed, stopped eating and was losing weight. Although he didn't consider harming himself, he said he was "indifferent" to living.

In May 2025, New York Magazine published a damning investigation into Fetterman's mental health and sanity, which painted a grim picture of the man once revered as an icon of the progressive left.

“I think John is on a bad trajectory and I’m really worried about him,” Fetterman's former chief of staff Adam Jentleson wrote in an email to Fetterman's doctors, the report states.

Fetterman has faced public backlash over the past year over stances that appear to be a dramatic turnaround from the politician he used to be, ranging from arguing for immigration restrictions, tighter border policy, and support for Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

Fetterman indicated to Bill Maher that his stroke "freed him" to change his views.

"No one is saying every controversial position (for example, his respectful relationship with Trump) stems from his mental health — but it’s become harder for them to tell which ones do," the New York Magazine article adds.

His political shifts are only a small symptom, however, the report indicated.

In addition to public incidents like a speeding crash in which Fetterman was driving, staffers and former staffers pointed to an incident where he wandered into the middle of traffic in Washington D.C., sat alone at a table and refused to speak with other Senators during a key meeting, and convinced himself his career would be ended by a minor controversy over campaign funding.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.