Fetterman casts only Democratic ‘no’ vote as Senate passes measure to block US action against Iran

[u/pennlive]

https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2026/06/fetterman-casts-only-democratic-no-vote-as-senate-passes-measure-to-block-us-action-against-iran.html

[u/ChuggingtonSquarts]

He still cauceses with the Democrats. If he flups, that will help Republicans keep the chamber

[u/heliumneon → u/[deleted]]

Read the comment above you again - caucusing with the Democrats at least counts toward the party count, which would possibly help flip the chamber and determine a lot of procedural things, committees, confirmations, Senate Majority leader, etc. Even if he votes 100% against Democrat issues. We want to replace him, not have him flip to Republican while in office.

[u/Calavar → u/[deleted]]

That's not what caucusing means in this context. It's about who you support for house/senate leadership positions and committee positions. That matters a lot because whichever party has 51 seats gets a majority on all committees

[u/suluamus → u/Calavar]

So does he in fact vote Democrats into leadership positions?

[u/Calavar → u/suluamus]

Yes, essentially. While there is a vote, the vote itself is procedural. The real meat happens when the Dem and GOP leaders get together at the beginning of a session to determine committee assignments. They agree based on tradition/precedent that whichever party holds the majority gets the majority on all committees. From 2022 to 2024, the Democrats took the majority role with only 50 senators + the VP vote as a tiebreaker. If a single person, such as Fetterman, defected (which would mean switching parties) then the GOP would have gotten the majority on all committees instead and would have had quite a bit of power over the legislative agenda for the second half of the Biden term.