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Presiding over Pa. Senate, Lt. Governor nearly faints

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who presides over the chamber, received medical attention but left the chamber unassisted.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman gavels in a joint session of the Pennsylvania House and Senate in February 2019.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman gavels in a joint session of the Pennsylvania House and Senate in February 2019.Read moreMatt Rourke / AP

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate on Monday afternoon briefly came to a halt when Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who presides over the chamber, received medical attention after appearing faint.

As the Senate ran through its calendar of bills on its first day back in session in weeks, Fetterman, 49, appeared wobbly and grabbed the lectern, preventing a fall, according to multiple people who were in the chamber. Several senators and staffers ran up to assist him, and a member of the Capitol’s nursing staff came to examine him, they said.

Fetterman left the Senate unassisted shortly after people in the room suggested he take a break. He was seen leaving his Capitol office within an hour of the incident.

His spokesperson, Christina Kauffman, said the Democratic lieutenant governor became overheated and is “back to normal.”

The legislature has returned to the Capitol for its annual June marathon of budget talks leading up to the July 1 deadline to pass a new fiscal plan.