Fetterman on Oz confirmation vote: 'I never committed to a yes'

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) said he wasn’t completely sold on his vote to support Dr. Mehmet Oz after President-elect picked his former political rival to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

“Freakouts are rarely illuminating. I never committed to a yes, just an open dialogue lol,” he wrote Friday on social platform X in a response to a Slate article criticizing him for backing Republican-led initiatives in recent years. 

“Math is math: GOP has 53 votes and Oz has a new job. Hot takes online won’t change that,” he added. “He doesn’t have to give a s--- about Dem votes, and same for the remaining nominees.”

Slate's article labeled Oz as a high profile “medical fraudster” who Fetterman once deemed a “personal nemesis.”

“Fetterman was once seen as Democrats’ most effective brawler when it came to battling Republicans. Now, with Trump riding back into Washington, the party has turned conciliatory —none more so than Fetterman himself, who, in just two years, has gone from brutally attacking Oz, on policy and on personality, to becoming his most enthusiastic, on-record yes vote in the entire chamber,” the outlet wrote.

The criticism came after Fetterman said Tuesday that if Oz — who he faced off against in a tense Senate battle in 2022 — is about “protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid,” he would vote for him, adding that he doesn’t have any bitterness against the surgeon.

The Pennsylvania Democrat also threw shade at Trump's tapping of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to lead the Justice Department, joking that the president-elect was "trolling" with the pick. After Gaetz withdrew from the nomination, Fetterman seemed surprised.

"Holy s‑‑‑, I didn’t see that coming," Fetterman said mockingly when asked by reporters about the withdrawal.