Washington, D.C. – Today, we are reminded that John Fetterman has a habit of not showing up for work as Lt. Gov. of Pennsylvania – a job that taxpayers paying him $179,000 per year for. Let’s not forget that he skipped dozens of city council meetings as mayor of Braddock too.
As reported by AP this morning:
Records from Fetterman’s four years in office, however, offer a different portrait of his time in the $179,000-a-year elected job. They show Fetterman typically kept a light work schedule and was often absent from state business, including presiding over the state Senate, which is one of his chief duties, according to an Associated Press review of his daily calendars and attendance records.
The review found that Fetterman’s daily schedule was blank during roughly one-third of workdays from January 2019, when he first took office, to May of this year, when he suffered a serious stroke. Even on days where his schedule showed he was active, a typical work day for Fetterman lasted between four and five hours, the records show.
The findings, which focus entirely on his tenure before his stroke, are notable because Fetterman points to his time as lieutenant governor as a leading credential in his Senate campaign. And as his bid for a seat that could swing the Senate majority becomes more competitive, some Democrats privately worry that Fetterman is proving a lackluster candidate and losing ground in the campaign.
Among other things, the AP story showed that:
- Fetterman’s daily schedule was BLANK for 33 percent of workdays in 2019 when he first took office.
- A typical workday for Fetterman was between 4 and 5 hours.
- The AP noted that “Fetterman’s campaign didn’t explain the gaps in his schedule.”
- He booked national media interviews “during times he otherwise had state business to attend to.”
- Records show that Fetterman skipped at least 53 city council meetings during his 13 years as the town’s mayor, or roughly one-third of the meetings held during his tenure.
- “Fetterman’s 2015 financial disclosure when he first ran for U.S. Senate showed that he was paid just $1,800 a year to be Braddock’s mayor and lived off $54,000 given to him by his parents that year alone.”
Statement from NRSC Spokeswoman Lizzie Litzow: “If Fetterman can’t even show up for his current job, how can Pennsylvanians trust him to show up for a job in the U.S. Senate? Well, the short answer is they can’t. That, coupled with not showing up for debates and not being transparent with his health, shows that John Fetterman has no respect for the people of Pennsylvania or their hard-earned tax dollars.”
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