Fetterman set to return to Senate week of April 17

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is set to return to the Senate the week of April 17, two Democratic sources told The Hill.

A source close to Fetterman confirmed he will return once the Senate comes back from its upcoming two-week recess. The Pennsylvania progressive has been absent from the Senate since mid-February after checking himself into Walter Reed Medical Military Hospital with clinical depression. 

Prior to Wednesday, Fetterman’s team has declined to lay out a timeline for the senator’s return, saying he was recovering well and would return “soon.” They had also released photographs of the senator meeting with chief of staff Adam Jentleson while hospitalized to discuss a number of matters related to the upper chamber. 

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) told The Hill on Wednesday that he met with his fellow Keystone State lawmaker a day earlier and was pleased to see how he was doing. 

“It was just remarkable how good he looked, how good he sounded. My sense is he’ll be in better shape than he was even before his stroke. He’s really, really in good shape,” Casey said, noting that he was relaying a “non-medical opinion” on the situation. 

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also told The Hill that he expects Fetterman and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to return to the upper chamber that week. Feinstein has been absent since the February recess after being hospitalized with shingles. 

“That’s what we’re hearing,” Kaine said. “It’s all good.”

A Feinstein spokesperson declined to offer any update on the senator’s return.

Fetterman’s office first announced his hospitalization on Feb. 15. Jentleson said at the time that the senator has experienced depression “off and on throughout his life. However, it had become “severe” in the weeks before checking into Walter Reed. 

Fetterman checked himself in for clinical depression treatment only a week after he was hospitalized for feeling lightheaded during the Senate Democratic retreat following the State of the Union address.

The Pennsylvania Democrat’s health has been constantly in the news over the past year after he suffered a stroke shortly before the Senate Democratic primary in May. He underwent surgery shortly after his stroke to implant a pacemaker. 

Despite his recovery, Fetterman still struggles with auditory processing issues stemming from the stroke, using closed captioning in order to communicate with lawmakers and aides. 

Updated at 5:12 p.m.