One of the biggest surprises in politics over the past few years has been the apparent evolution of Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) from an avowed progressive leftist and reliable Democratic vote to a more center-leaning moderate who's shown a willingness to work with Republicans and President Donald Trump on certain issues.

That transformation is seemingly too much to bear for some of Fetterman's staffers, as two of his top aides reportedly tendered their resignations from his office this week, according to Fox News.

Those two departures are a continuation of a slow exodus of staffers from the senator's office that began nearly a year ago, in large part because of his unapologetically pro-Israel stance, and now totals at least seven former aides.

Two more staffers on the way out

NBC News reported that two of Sen. Fetterman's longest-serving senior staffers, who've been with him since his surprisingly successful 2022 campaign that included him being incapacitated for several months following a stroke, will be leaving his team at the end of the week.

Those two staffers are newly elevated Communications Director Charlie Hills along with Legislative Director Tré Easton, who also served as Fetterman's deputy chief of staff, per Fox News.

"Working for John afforded me the opportunity to build a diligent policy team from scratch," Easton told NBC News. "Together we created a legislative body of work that I think is a blueprint for how Democrats should be governing when they have power. I’ll forever be grateful."

Latest in a series of staffer departures

The NBC News report noted that Hills had just recently taken over as Sen. Fetterman's communications director after the previous staffer to hold that position, Carrie Adams, resigned and departed last month, a development that occurred several months after she'd publicly disagreed with the senator about his pro-Israel stance in an August 2024 interview, per Fox News.

Prior to that, Fetterman had lost three senior communications staffers last March as well as, in April, his chief of staff, Adam Jentleson -- again, because of his openly expressed support for Israel in its ongoing fight against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, which is vehemently opposed by many pro-Palestinian progressives.

Yet, while some on the left have recoiled from Fetterman over his pro-Israel position -- not to mention his pre-Inauguration meeting with President Donald Trump, to say nothing of his votes in support of some of Trump's Cabinet nominees and GOP legislation cracking down on criminal illegal aliens -- he has simultaneously been welcomed by many on the right with open arms, albeit also with some skepticism.

Former campaign staffer points to Israel support as reason for staff resignations

The left-leaning publication The Intercept reported that an unnamed former campaign staffer for Sen. Fetterman pointed to his focus on the Israel-Hamas conflict as the main cause of the several departures of the senator's once-loyal progressive staffers, and seemed to suggest that more resignations could be forthcoming.

"I don’t find this as a surprise," the anonymous former campaign staffer said. "I think the staff is probably frustrated that working in the Fetterman office means you’re just working on Israel all the time."

"This is a guy who came in talking about being a champion for labor and he’s gone pretty quiet on it," the source continued. "This is a guy who, since Trump won, is for lack of a better word, basically a useful idiot for Republicans. He’s supporting stuff and it gives them cover to say, 'Look it’s bipartisan, we got Fetterman.'"

The outlet noted that other unnamed sources familiar with Fetterman's office confirmed that, as the former campaign staffer suggested, the senator has seemingly abandoned many of the progressive issues he campaigned on to instead focus the bulk of his attention on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

He has also reportedly taken on several Republican-leaning donors in recent months and, as previously mentioned, has horrified devoted leftists by displaying his "open mind" and willingness to work cooperatively with Trump and Republicans on areas of common interest, particularly on issues that will directly impact his constituents in Pennsylvania.