John Fetterman will become the first sitting Democratic senator to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
In the halls of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Fetterman said he isn't going into the meeting with a specific ask. Instead, he alluded to opening up the lines of communication with the future president.
"I'm not just the senator for Democrats in Pennsylvania, I'm the senator for everyone in Pennsylvania and my state picked Donald Trump as president," Fetterman said on Thursday. "And if I have the opportunity to have that conversation, and I bet we're going to find things to work together for a better Pennsylvania and a better nation."
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Since Trump's election victory, Fetterman has broken with his party on a number of issues. Fetterman has said he plans to support some of Trump's cabinet picks and vote for the Republican-backed Laken Riley Act. It requires the Department of Homeland Security to take custody of people in the country illegally, who are accused of committing a crime. It's named after the Georgia nursing student who was allegedly killed by a Venezuelan man who was in the country illegally.
The bill, which passed the House of Representatives, progressed in the Senate on Thursday.
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Fetterman said he understands that some Democrats will oppose the bill, acknowledging that they may have concerns about due process.
"It's their judgment. I disagree. They might disagree with me. That's how democracy works," he said.
