(The Center Square) – In what was billed as a “Senate showdown,” Fox News hosted a congenial discussion between U.S. senators from Pennsylvania and self-described friends Dave McCormick and John Fetterman.
The two men discussed points of agreement, like confronting Iran and Iranian-backed militant groups.
They also discussed points of divergence like the cuts to Medicaid proposed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the resolution is known.
Fetterman, a first-term Democrat, said he’d be voting against the bill, citing concerns for Medicaid and SNAP, though he emphasized that neither his “no” vote nor his colleague’s “yes” vote made them bad people.
“I refuse to engage in that kind of rhetoric,” said Fetterman, who has weathered attacks from within his own party over his hard-line support of the Netanyahu government in Israel and his support for border security funding.
A figure long known for contrarianism, the pressure of Senate life and continued concerns over his physical and mental health have revealed a softer side of the senator, more interested in reaching across the aisle than criticizing his political opponents.
Though Fetterman said cutting Medicaid and SNAP programs weren’t the way forward, he agreed with McCormick’s assertion that the $37 trillion national debt poses a threat to the nation’s stability and security.
For his part, the first-term Republican said, “We agree that we should not take benefits away from vulnerable people,” insisting that changes to Medicaid would prevent those who aren’t in need from taking advantage of the programs.
McCormick specifically pointed to working-aged men without dependents he said are adding unnecessary costs to the entitlements.
Fetterman noted that he watched his wife, Gisele, in her career as an organizer within the state’s nonprofit food network. He stressed the importance of feeding people he said are genuinely hungry and not looking for a handout.
The majority of Medicaid recipients are low-income families, including 4 in 10 children in the U.S. as well as adults with disabilities and the elderly.
According to last year’s financial report from the Department of Health and Human Services, almost 95% of payments were proper. Of the 5% which were not, the majority were missing needed documentation.
The White House says the “bill eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse by ending benefits for at least 1.4 million illegal immigrants who are gaming the system.” More than 71.3 million people are enrolled nationwide, says Medicaid.gov.
Implementing and safeguarding Medicaid is a job largely undertaken by individual states. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Human Services uses a variety of methods to flag suspicious behavior, including artificial information technology, and in so doing has made it difficult for criminals to take advantage of the system.
Another area both senators agree on is improved border security, which is afforded $60 billion in the House proposal. Fetterman emphasized the importance of security, saying numbers showing up to the country’s southern border monthly are equivalent to the city of Pittsburgh, calling it “chaos.”
McCormick noted that we’ve “added Pennsylvania” through illegal immigration during Biden’s term.
More than 14 million people, The Center Square reported, are believed to have illegally entered America in the four-year term of Democratic one-term President Joe Biden. That includes an estimated 2 million evading capture. From January to April, with the Trump administration changes impacting analysis, border crossing encounters and apprehensions nationally are 168,390 – 83% less than the same four months a year ago and a pace for just over 2 million in four years.
In context, the first four months of the year had more in January and February than March and April, and the trend for fewer is expected to continue.
The two shared optimism for the recent merger between U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel. Fetterman, Biden, and President Donald Trump all opposed the initial deal. Fetterman said it was the resulting pressure that forced Nippon to ultimately make the investments required to move the deal forward.
McCormick applauded the laborers who spoke on behalf of the deal to spare their jobs, even as union leaders remained skeptical of Nippon’s long-term commitment to the commonwealth.
