Pennsylvania governor refuses to ask Fetterman to resign following hospitalization for depression

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Sen. Fetterman’s hospitalization raises questions about fitness of ill lawmakers to serve in Congress

Senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on Sen. John Fetterman’s, D-Pa., hospitalization for depression treatment.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he will not encourage Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to resign his seat to focus on his health, amid multiple hospital stays including in-patient treatment for clinical depression.

There are growing concerns over Fetterman's ability to serve as Pennsylvania's senator while also receiving the treatment he needs, after being admitted into the hospital twice in February.

Shapiro told The Inquirer that if any Democrats asked him to tell Fetterman to step down, he would "dismiss it immediately."

One month after being sworn into the Senate, Fetterman was admitted into a Washington, D.C., hospital after experiencing lightheadedness. The Democrat checked himself back in the next week to be treated for clinical depression.

FETTERMAN RECEIVES SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION FOR CLASSIFIED BREIFINGS

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) and his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, stand during the singing of the National Anthem before Josh Shapiro is sworn in as Governor of Pennsylvania at the State Capitol Building on Jan. 17, 2023 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Shapiro defeated Republican nominee Doug Mastriano by nearly 15% in the November election. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)

Shapiro believes that Fetterman will "come back stronger than ever" after his hospital stay that is expected to last several weeks.

DOCTORS REACT AFTER FETTERMAN CHECKS INTO HOSPITAL FOR CLINICAL DEPRESSION

"He’s going to get the help that he needs… and do a great job for the people of Pennsylvania as their senator for a long time," Shapiro said Tuesday in an interview with The Inquirer.

Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 while on the campaign trail and suffered lingering auditory processing issues as a result. 

Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News Contributor and Professor Of Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, recently shared his thoughts on Fetterman continuing to serve as Senator in his current medical state and that he most likely "can't go back to work anytime in the immediate future." 

Gov. Josh Shapiro endorsed Fetterman in the 2022 midterms. (Matt Rourke)

"It's both biochemical and psychological and sociological, and a lot of pressure on him trying to perform up to the level of a US senator, whatever that means these days," he said in a statement after Fetterman checked himself in for care.

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Siegel said he is "not his doctor" and doesn't "know exactly what prompted this," but stated that if Fetterman "feels that he needs to be in a hospital, then I would conclude or infer that the level of depression is significant enough so that he really can't go back to work anytime in the immediate future."

Fox News' Houston Keene contributed to this report.