John Fetterman finds himself on an island in the Senate: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we examine John Fetterman’s place in the Senate, where the Pennsylvania Democrat is increasingly on an island. Plus, Kristen Welker previews her interview with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on this Sunday’s “Meet the Press.”

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.

— Adam Wollner

An isolated John Fetterman clashes with colleagues and staff as he skips his Senate duties

Allan Smith, Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V have a deeply reported story out this afternoon on Sen. John Feterman, D-Pa., based on interviews with 18 former staffers, Pennsylvania officials, and congressional lawmakers and staffers, many of whom said the senator is increasingly isolated and absent from official business, both in Washington and his home state.

Fetterman’s behavior has received renewed scrutiny after a recent New York magazine article detailing concerns about his mental health from one of his closest former aides, as well as some frustration from Democrats that Fetterman is not on the same page as many other members of the party when it comes to standing up to Trump and his agenda. 

Here are some of the key lines from the story:

• Fetterman was open to confirming Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, according to two people familiar with his thinking, so Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wanted to speak with her colleague one-on-one. But Fetterman refused to talk to one of the most senior and well-respected members of the caucus. 
• Two sources familiar with the exchange said Fetterman was “rude and dismissive” to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who wanted to discuss a Republican bill designed to punish the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants to Israeli officials. He also suggested to her that he’d be more inclined to help her if she put him on the Foreign Relations Committee — something she didn’t have the power to do. 
• From April 2024 to this March, Fetterman missed 77 of 381 votes, according to GovTrack. That put him in the 90th to the 99th percentile among all senators in terms of total votes missed during each three-month stretch of the calendar in that time.
• Fetterman skipped 25 of the 26 hearings or business meetings the Senate Commerce Committee has held this year, with the first hearing he attended being on Thursday, after the New York magazine article was published. He missed all nine of the hearings and business meetings the Senate Homeland Security Committee has held this year, and skipped all 11 times the Senate Agriculture Committee has met in 2025.
• A House Democratic lawmaker from Pennsylvania who spoke with NBC News on Thursday said they have had no interactions with Fetterman in recent months.

Read more from the team →

Transportation Secretary Duffy confronts Newark airport concerns

As Americans gear up for a summer of busy travel plans, the cascade of news about issues at Newark Liberty International Airport has given many pause. 

Some radar screens serving the airport blacked out for 90 seconds early Friday, days after reports that air traffic controllers temporarily lost communication with an aircraft. And there’s been a series of delays out of one of the nation’s busiest airports. 

That’s why I spoke to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for this Sunday’s episode of “Meet the Press,” to ask him the questions that are on Americans’ minds right now about aircraft safety and transportation infrastructure.

The bottom line: Duffy told me he feels safe flying in and out of Newark, and that America’s airspace is the “safest.”

But there’s no silver bullet to fixing the infrastructure concerns. While Duffy said that a Newark-specific fix should be completed by the end of the summer, the air traffic modernization plan released on Thursday will take three years to complete.

“This is a system that’s, what — 25 at best, sometimes 50 years old. The Congress and the country haven’t paid attention to it, right? They expect it to work. And so now I think the — the lights are blinking, the sirens are turning, and they’re saying, ‘Listen, we have to fix this,’” Duffy told me. 

Don’t miss more from Duffy this Sunday, as well as exclusive interviews with Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

What to know from the Trump administration today

• Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller said that the administration is “looking at” ways to end due process protections for unauthorized immigrants who are in the country.
• Trump’s last-minute push to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans is running into a buzz saw of opposition in the Republican Party, with some unsure of how serious the proposal is.
• Another issue for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”: Four New York Republicans issued a blistering statement rejecting an offer they said came from Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House’s top tax writer on how to expand the state and local tax deduction. 
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told congressional leaders that the U.S. will likely hit the debt ceiling by August. 
• Trump signaled a willingness to cut the U.S.’ current 145% tariff rate on China ahead of trade talks between the two countries. He wrote in a Truth Social post: “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.,” appearing to refer to Bessent. 
• Trump abruptly fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to hold the position. 
• FBI Director Kash Patel’s schedule has been lighter on intelligence briefings and heavier on appearances at pro sporting events, raising concerns that he is not taking the job seriously enough.

✉️ Mailbag: Democrats search for their next leader

Thanks to everyone who emailed us! This week’s question comes from Frank Mona III: 

“Will someone become the standard bearer for the Democrats nationally (and if so, who?) or do you think it will continue to be a group of governors, congressional and senatorial leaders all with overlapping messages?”

To answer this, we turned to national political reporter Ben Kamisar. Here’s his response:

Historically, unless a political party has a president in the White House or a presidential nominee, it doesn’t usually have a single standard-bearer. 

That’s because without that sort of unifying force, there’s not typically a one-size-fits-all approach to leading a national political party. Instead, there are groups of politicians who attempt to grab the mantle of different wings of the party. In recent years on the Democratic side, it’s been people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who have captured the energy on the left, and people like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer who have spoken for the party’s establishment. 

That’s why we’re seeing the whole group of potential 2028 presidential hopefuls on the Democratic side trying to carve out different lanes, instead of looking to be the singular standard-bearer. And that dynamic won’t change until the presidential nominating contest kicks into high gear in a few years. 

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

And if you’re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here.