Sen. Corman blames Lt. Gov. Fetterman for Senate ‘chaos’ that led to national attention

After garnering national attention for a screaming match in the Pennsylvania Senate, state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, on Monday laid the blame for the “the whole chaos” on Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

During a debate on the Senate floor Wednesday over House Bill 33 to end a program that provided $200 a month in general assistance for people deemed unable to work, Democratic Sen. Katie Muth, D-Montgomery, began to read from a letter from a formerly homeless man who said he relied on the program. That’s when Corman began to loudly demand Fetterman enforce the rules and move to a vote.

“Go to the vote,” Corman said. “Go to the vote like you’re supposed to.”

Corman, speaking over Muth, told Fetterman he needed to do his job and bring the chamber to order.

Because Fetterman would not call the chamber to order, Corman told the Centre Daily Times on Monday that he took it upon himself to enforce Senate rules.

“(It was) not a good day for the Senate,” Corman said, adding that in his 20 years of experience, Senate rules have always been honored and enforced by officials.

Following Wednesday’s debacle, videos circulated on social media — one video reaching more than 3.41 million views as of Monday morning.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren also tweeted the video Sunday night and told Muth to “Keep persisting.”

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay showed her support for Muth on Twitter, calling Corman a “dog of a human being” who was “abusively shouting (Muth) down.”

Later, Muth shared John Boyd’s letter on Twitter, “in case the angry man yelling blocked out some of the words.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, Corman and members of the Senate Republican Caucus released a statement Wednesday and explained their actions during the debate on House Bill 33.

“Today, the order and decorum of the Senate was ambushed by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and members of the Senate Democrat caucus, who failed to adhere to the Senate rules,” read the statement. “... When our rules are not followed, chaos takes over. It was a sad day for good government in Pennsylvania and the actions of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle set a dangerous precedent for the future of an institution that we value so greatly. When we disagree with one another we must do so in a respectful manner.”

In the statement, Republican leaders said they were committed to passing a budget and advancing other measures that would benefit all Pennsylvanians “in accordance with the rules of the Senate, and without the displays of partisanship and disrespect that we saw today.”

There were “ample opportunities” to discuss the bill before Wednesday’s hearing, Corman said Monday. He said Fetterman was acting in a “biased” and “disrespectful” manner and was blatantly disregarding his role in the Senate.

Corman said he wished representatives and Senate officials would have used another time to address concerns with House Bill 33 and wished Fetterman would have conducted himself in an unbiased and respectful manner while abiding by traditional Senate rules.

“The whole chaos ... falls at the feet of the Lt. Governor,” Corman said.

Fetterman took to Twitter to reflect on Wednesday’s budget negotiations. Addressing Scarnati and Corman, Fetterman wrote that the Senate made a “good faith outreach to you and the leadership to broker a dignified conclusion to the debate. Lamentably, you and your side chose a different path.”

The Senate voted 26-24 to eliminate General Assistance from the budget.

This story was originally published July 1, 2019 at 3:24 PM.