Fetterman leaves hospital, will return to Senate next week

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was released from a Washington, D.C., hospital on Friday after a health scare two days earlier and is expected to return to work next week. 

The Pennsylvania Democrat was hospitalized late on Wednesday after feeling lightheaded during the Senate Democratic retreat earlier in the day. According to a Fetterman spokesman, test results showed no evidence that he suffered a seizure. Previous tests indicated that he did not suffer a second stroke in less than a year. 

“A few minutes ago, Senator John Fetterman was discharged from The George Washington University Hospital. In addition to the CT, CTA, and MRI tests ruling out a stroke, his EEG test results came back normal, with no evidence of seizures,” Joe Calvello, Fetterman’s communications director, said in a statement.

Calvello added that Fetterman would be back at the Capitol when the Senate reconvenes on Monday. 

Fetterman suffered a stroke shortly before the May primary last year that sidelined him from the campaign trail for months. He defeated GOP nominee Mehmet Oz by nearly 5 percentage points in November, handing Democrats a key one-seat advantage and allowing them to retain their majority.

He underwent a procedure shortly after his stroke to have a pacemaker implanted. 

Fetterman continues to deal with auditory processing issues, forcing him to rely on closed captioning in order to converse with other lawmakers and for work. The Senate has outfitted his desk with a monitor to allow him to follow along with upper chamber proceedings. 

The Senate sergeant-at-arms has also allowed for live audio-to-text transcription for Fetterman’s committees, according to The New York Times.