Fetterman’s handling of his stroke could have led to crisis
The lieutenant governor position in Pennsylvania has very few constitutional responsibilities, but it does have one very important requirement — Be prepared to become governor when a vacancy occurs. This is why what Lt. Gov. John Fetterman did in the aftermath of his medical crisis in May was so dangerous and could have caused a constitutional crisis in Pennsylvania.
When Mr. Fetterman suffered a stroke the weekend before the primary election, it is understandable that the staff and others were confused and did not handle the situation appropriately by informing the public immediately.
But what happened after that is not understandable or acceptable in the least.
On Tuesday,
May 17, he went in for a serious and complex medical procedure, having a pacemaker and defibrillator installed. Gov. Tom Wolf — as was his responsibility and clearly not happy with the events of the past few days — instructed his cabinet to take the unprecedented step of signing a letter stating the lieutenant governor was incapacitated and could no longer perform his duties. As president pro tempore of the Senate, I also signed that letter. Mr. Wolf then called me, the next constitutional officer in the line of succession, to inform me I would be serving as the acting lieutenant governor.
The next day — while still hospitalized and recovering from surgery — Mr. Fetterman penned a letter saying he was prepared to resume his duties and rescinded the previous day’s letter, returning him to the status of lieutenant governor four days later.
Again, the most important duty of a lieutenant governor is to be prepared to be governor in case of a vacancy. Was Mr. Fetterman prepared at that time to be acting governor? The evidence suggests otherwise.
In particular, the only two other constitutional responsibilities of the lieutenant governor are to preside over the Senate and chair the Board of Pardons. During the next five weeks, the state Senate was in session 15 days. Mr. Fetterman did not attend a single session to preside over the Senate during that time.
He even took a couple of months off from the campaign trail for the U.S. Senate, which is obviously the most important thing going on in his life right now.
If he could not attend any of these events because of his health, how could he have handled the considerable demands of the governor’s office and overseeing every aspect of the operation of state government had the need arisen? He could not.
The thing about emergencies is you never know when they are going to happen. If some tragic incident would have befallen Mr. Wolf during these months, Pennsylvania would have been left in a dangerous position of having an acting governor who was clearly not up to performing the duties of the office, although he had insisted on retaining the office.
As a constitutional officer, you have a greater responsibility to the public than the average citizen. Normal people can keep their health care concerns private. But when you take the oath of office to uphold the state constitution, you need to look past your own political self-interests and do what is right for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Fetterman should have allowed the governor’s letter to stand until he became healthy enough to resume his duties. I would suggest the next Legislature and governor review the succession laws to ensure such reckless behavior never happens again.