PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman privately rejected the concerns of leaders at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who requested a meeting to talk about vaccine policy and Medicaid cuts, speculating to an aide that they “just want free trips to DC,” according to a new report that sparked another wave of criticism aimed at the first-term senator.

The report from The Wall Street Journal details several meetings or events that — while routine for many senators in Washington — Fetterman routinely tried to get out of, including the meeting with CHOP and a funeral for three York County police officers who were killed while on duty.

Claims that Fetterman is not fully performing the role of a U.S. senator have plagued much of his nearly four years in office. His former staffers have publicly and privately said he often cancels meetings at the last minute, including with constituent groups and Pennsylvania officials who would normally be considered allies.

As he increasingly attacks his own party, the Pennsylvania Democrat has instead appeared regularly on conservative media. He’s prioritized meetings and events about Israel, whose war in Gaza had been a flashpoint in his break with former Democratic allies and supporters, and he does not make regular public appearances across the state he represents.

Among the new revelations in the Wall Street Journal story is an interaction the senator had with Yechiel Leiter, the Israel ambassador to the U.S. last year.

After Fetterman said he wanted to craft a Senate resolution that would require his colleagues to vote on whether the war in Gaza was a genocide, Leiter suggested Fetterman instead write an op-ed about why he supported Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported. Leiter’s embassy later “sent over drafted points for Fetterman to consider,” but Fetterman’s staff withheld them from him out of concerns that writing the op-ed based on the talking points “risked violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” according to the report.

Fetterman’s office did not immediately respond to The Philadelphia Inquirer about the claims in the report or about the reactions to it.

“John Fetterman is a disgrace,” U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., wrote on social media in response to the story. “Our state deserves better than a lazy trust fund baby who is too lazy to do the job.”

U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., called Fetterman’s behavior “pathetic.”

“[B]etween the laziness, disrespect, and willingness to carry water for a foreign government, it shows us something we already know: this man has no sense of duty,” Deluzio wrote on social media. “He is not up for the high office he was elected to — and we in Pennsylvania will do something about it in 2028.”

Both Boyle and Deluzio are among the Pennsylvania Democrats who are considered potential candidates when Fetterman’s seat is on the ballot again in 2028. Fetterman has not said whether he will seek a second term, and he’s rejected speculation that he will switch parties to become a Republican.

A robust Democratic primary is likely either way. Just one out of every five likely Democratic voters have a favorable view of him, an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll found last month. At the same time, his favorability among Republicans had grown to a higher level than Pennsylvania’s Republican senator, Dave McCormick.

The Working Families Party, a left-leaning organization that backed Fetterman in the general election in 2022, has said since late last year that it will recruit a Democratic challenger to replace him. And State Rep. Chris Rabb’s sweeping win in Philadelphia’s race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans last spring has given some members of the party hope about the chances for a progressive, anti-establishment candidate for the position.

Fetterman, meanwhile, has also isolated himself from other Democrats in Washington, according to the Wall Street Journal and other reports this year. The party is looking to capture the Senate majority in the midterm elections this fall — a tall task considering the map of competitive races, but one that could make Fetterman a key swing vote depending on how narrow the majority is for either party. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has called Fetterman “an important member of our caucus,” had dinner with Fetterman last month, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper’s report includes text messages between Fetterman and his staff as they discuss meetings and events that senators would normally attend.

“3 hours??” Fetterman wrote in response to an aide who told him about the length of a funeral last year for three police officers who were killed while serving a warrant in York County, where Fetterman grew up.

Fetterman wrote that the time “may be a nonstarter” and did not attend, the Journal reported.

Discussing the meeting with CHOP officials last September, Fetterman wrote, “Why do I have to keep having to meet with chop,” and an aide responded it was to talk about vaccines and Medicaid cuts, according to the report.

Along with children’s hospitals and health systems nationally, CHOP faces financial pressure from Medicaid cuts starting next year. While the internationally prominent research institution remains financially strong, around half of its patients rely on Medicaid for coverage.

During the debate over President Donald Trump’s signature budget legislation, CHOP circulated form letters to federal lawmakers that warned about the potential for the cuts to harm families, asking staff and patient families to sign them in opposition.

Vaccines have also become increasingly political as Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has sought to upend longstanding federal recommendations about the timing and number of immunizations that children receive.

Fetterman has not weighed in publicly about vaccine changes. But he has loudly rejected the Medicaid changes — saying in a statement last year that he was voting “HELL NO” on the Republican bill, which he called “a disaster.”

About two months later, he wrote to an aide while discussing the CHOP meeting that he was not concerned about, the Journal reported.

“I’m convinced they just want free trips to DC,” he wrote.

—Staff writer Wendy Ruderman contributed to this report.

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