John Fetterman, in hoodie and shorts, returns to Senate, says ‘it’s great to be back’

John Fetterman said it was “great” to be back when he arrived on Capitol Hill Monday after spending nearly two months at Walter Reed military hospital where he was being treated for clinical depression.

The Democratic senator from Pennsylvania was dressed in his signature shorts and hoodie as he walked into the Capitol.

“It’s great to be back,” he told reporters.

He waved to the waiting crowd, but answered no questions.

Fetterman was released from the hospital in late March, but went home to Pennsylvania as the Senate went on a two-week spring break.

Nearly all lawmakers return Monday — including Republican leader Mitch McConnell who was knocked out after hitting his head in a fall. A notable exception is Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who remains in California, where she spent the past two months recovering from shingles. She hasn’t said when she’ll be back.

Fetterman goes straight to work. The senators vote Monday night. And on Wednesday, the senator will preside over his first hearing, a subcommittee hearing of the Agriculture Committee.

‘Sen. Fetterman will chair his first subcommittee hearing on Wednesday in the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics and Research, as a hearing will focus specifically on SNAP and the critical assistance it provides to working families through the upcoming Farm Bill,” his office said in a statement.

Federal agriculture programs expire on September 30, and both the House and Senate agriculture committees are beginning to work on legislation to renew them.

The senator worked on the issue last week in Pennsylvania. He met farmers from Beaver and Lawrence counties and visited an Enon Valley dairy that dates back to the time of the American Revolution.

He posted pictures of his encounters on his social media websites.

Fetterman last voted in the Senate on Feb. 15.

He checked in with Walter Reed that day after weeks of what aides described as Fetterman withdrawn and uninterested in eating, discussing work, or the usual chit-chat with staff.

At the time, Fetterman had barely been employed in Washington for a month and was recovering from the aftereffects of the stroke he suffered last May. He went to Walter Reed on the advice of the Capitol physician, Dr. Brian P Monahan.

During his stay, his staff stressed that he was working, kept informed of the matter and in contact with them.

While in the hospital in early February, Fetterman signed into law bipartisan railroad safety legislation introduced after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. As a member of the Agriculture Committee, the Senator also has a hand that drafts the Agriculture Bill that Congress votes on every five years.

While Fetterman was gone, Democrats struggled with his and several other absences, including Feinstein’s illness and the absence of Senator Jeff Merkley, who took time home after his mother’s death.

Vice President Kamala Harris had to cast breaking votes for some time in her role as President of the Senate. Democrats have a narrow 51-seat majority, and any absence could hamper their ability to pass legislation.

In a statement when he was released from Walter Reed late last month, Fetterman said the care he received there “changed my life.”

“I’m thrilled to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves,” said Fetterman, who was praised for his decision to get treatment.