Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is getting hammered from his own party for his leadership after eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus voted with Republicans on Sunday to move forward with an agreement to end the 40-day government shutdown, even though Schumer didn’t want them to.
The longest government shutdown in history, which lasted 40 days, has caused a lot of problems around the country. Airlines have canceled flights, federal workers haven’t been paid, and food assistance programs are stuck in legal battles. More than 25 states are warning of “catastrophic operational disruptions.”
On Sunday, seven Democratic senators and one independent who supported Democrats voted with Republicans to get the 60 votes needed to pass the deal. It did not meet the main Democratic demand to prolong the increased Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that would sunset on January 1.
People were upset with Schumer because he couldn’t get Democrats to agree on a plan, which shows how tensions are rising in the party as it gets ready for the midterm elections next year.
Democrats have been asking for an extension of the ACA tax credits that help millions of Americans purchase health insurance. The arrangement on Sunday only included a promise from Republicans to conduct a vote on the health care subsidies that are about to run out by mid-December.
In March, Schumer’s party members were angry with him for supporting a Republican-led continuing resolution, a stopgap funding package, that didn’t put any limits on President Donald Trump or Elon Musk’s plans to break up federal agencies and change how the government works.
Now, Schumer is facing fury from his own party after caving on Sunday night.
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is tipped as a possible presidential contender in 2028, did not mention Schumer by name in a post on X but said, “The American people need more from their leaders.”
“Tonight’s Senate vote on the federal government shutdown should have been a time for strength. Instead we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans,” Newsom said.
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, called for Schumer to go.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop health care premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Khanna said in a post on X.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York also questioned the party leadership in a post on X: “People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives. Working people want leaders whose word means something.
Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democratic who is also eyeing a place in the Senate, called for new leaders in the party: “Tonight is another example of why we need new leadership. If Chuck Schumer were an effective leader, he would have united his caucus to vote ‘No’ tonight and hold the line on healthcare.”
Adam Cochran, policy consultant and independent investigative journalist, said shortly before Sunday’s vote: “Schumer organized this, and then is voting no last second, and letting retiring Dems take the heat. If this goes through, that needs to be the end of Schumer leadership regardless of how he votes. He’s the minority leader, the buck stops at him.”
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the liberal news outlet MeidasTouch: “Please don’t think this beltway game of having retiring Dem senators vote yes while everyone else votes no is going to shield leadership from the end result. We see what is happening and can’t be fooled by those games.”
James D. Boys, senior research fellow at University College London’s Center on U.S. Politics, said on X: “Earlier in the year Schumer caved to Trump and was derided by the left of his party. Tonight he has been defied by a core group of his caucus after the longest shut down in U.S. history and is derided by the left of his party…. Different tactics, same result.”
It would be a “horrific mistake” for Democrats to give up now without an Obamacare deal, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.
“If Democrats cave on this issue, what it will say to Donald Trump is that he has a green light to go forward toward authoritarianism,” Sanders said. “And I think that would be a tragedy for this country.”
