Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman spent Wednesday night in a Washington, D.C. hospital after feeling lightheaded at the Senate Democratic retreat.
“He left (the retreat) and called his staff, who picked him up and drove him to The George Washington University Hospital,” according to a Wednesday night statement from his Communications Director, Joe Calvello. “Initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation. He is in good spirits and talking with his staff and family. We will provide more information when we have it.”
Fetterman’s health was under scrutiny after he suffered a stroke on the campaign trail the weekend before the May primary.
At the time, Fetterman said the stroke was caused by a clot from his heart being in an atrial fibrillation rhythm for too long.
After the stroke, his speech pattern changed and he sometimes garbled his words or had halting speech as he struggled to find certain words.
Fetterman, a Democrat, agreed to just one debate with challenger Republican Mehmet Oz, but required closed captioning of the questions to manage what his campaign called auditory processing issues.
Since then, he has read prepared speeches clearly.
Tuesday Fetterman attended President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech and appeared well. He released a statement saying it was an honor to attend for the first time and that he agreed with Biden that America’s best days still lie ahead.
Last week, the freshman Senator attended his first Senate hearing in the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Reading prepared questions from a paper, Fetterman asked Alexis Taylor, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, about how to strengthen the country’s trade programs to protect Pennsylvania’s farmers.
He also asked Jenny Moffitt, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, about steps the administration is taking to bolster the organics industry.
Also last week, Fetterman opened a regional office in Harrisburg, in the Strawberry Square complex located across the street from the state capitol building where his former office as lieutenant governor was located. He previously opened a Philadelphia office and expects to open a few more across the state.
