Chuck Schumer ended the last shutdown standoff as a villain to Democrats outraged at his decision to surrender to Republicans. This time, the Senate minority leader has heeded the party base, sparking a showdown that has kept government agencies closed for eight days and counting.
So far, his former critics are impressed. But that doesn’t mean they trust him.
A POLITICO survey of lawmakers and activists found Schumer has exceeded their low expectations heading into the current shutdown, but they’re still watching his every move closely amid persistent doubts that Senate Democrats will hold the line against the GOP.
“He hasn’t surrendered yet,” said Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin, who called on Schumer to step down in March. “I call that progress, and we’re cheering him on now.”
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), who said in March “it may be time” for Schumer to step aside, is now pleased with the top Senate leader’s coordination with top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries — at least “at this point.”
“I think it looks great right now,” Ivey said, adding that the collaboration between the two leaders was “moving things in the right direction for both the House and the Senate Democrats.”
The guardedly positive reviews for Schumer’s leadership come as the shutdown fight enters a politically perilous new phase. Real-world impacts of the funding lapse are likely to mount in the coming days, with most federal workers set to miss a paycheck Friday and active-duty troops next Wednesday.
Air travel has been sporadically affected due to shortages in air traffic controllers, and Smithsonian museums are set to close later this week, to name a few of the mounting consequences. All but three Senate Democrats voted Wednesday for the sixth timeagainst a House-passed bill that would reopen the government.
Senior Republicans have put Schumer at the center of their shutdown blame game, asserting that it’s his fear of the Democratic base — and specifically, a possible 2028 primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — that is prolonging the impasse.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise accused Schumer Wednesday of “throwing a tantrum”, while Speaker Mike Johnson said the New York Democrat was engaged in “desperate attempts to rehabilitate his own image” by bowing to “the Marxist flank of their party.”
“They’re coming for him,” Johnson said.
There’s some truth to those charges. One House Democrat, granted anonymity to candidly discuss the shutdown dynamics, said they would publicly call for Schumer to give up his leadership post if he folds now.
An aide to a senior House Democrat agreed that the dam could break should that happen, saying a significant number of lawmakers would be inclined to push for Schumer’s ouster.
Back in March, House Democrats united against the GOP spending bill. In the Senate, however, Democrats were divided on how to proceed on legislation that had no guardrails to prevent the White House from clawing back congressionally approved spending.
As the deadline approached to avoid a funding lapse, Schumer capitulated, saying he feared a shutdown could allow President Donald Trump to unleash more havoc on federal agencies and workers. He and nine other Democrats voted to advance the Republican bill.
That prompted a handful of House Democrats to publicly call for Schumer to step aside as leader, with some even mulling whether to back a primary challenger against him. Underscoring the House frustrations, Jeffries conspicuously sidestepped questions about Schumer’s leadership at a news conference.
Now Schumer and Jeffries are in much closer coordination, arguing in lockstep that Trump is dead set on unleashing havoc, shutdown or not. They’re also saying it is imperative for Republicans to address health care as a part of any government funding package — specifically by extending enhanced health insurance subsidies that will expire on Dec. 31 unless Congress acts.
Asked Wednesday whether he was acting out of fear of his party’s left flank, Schumer insisted to reporters that was not the case.
“The bottom line is very simple: We’re fighting for the American people,” he said. “Fifty-five percent of Trump voters, hardly a flank in our party, want [the subsidies extended]. That’s why we’re doing it. We believe that’s our job. The American people are crying out for help.”
Still, there are some divides between the two leaders. Jeffries has noticeably staked out tougher demands and a harsher tone in the shutdown fight than Schumer — arguing, for instance, that any deal on the health subsidy extension needs to be written into “ironclad” legislation. Democrats in both chambers are also demanding an end to “rescissions,” or Trump administration attempts to revoke funding for programs previously enacted by Congress.
Schumer, meanwhile, has resisted drawing red lines as many of his members signal they’d be willing to open up the government for something less than a final enacted health care deal. “I’m not going to negotiate in public,” he said Wednesday. “We have to do something. We have to extend these credits.”
That split between the two leaders has made some of Schumer’s critics distrustful, with many keeping a close eye on the thus-far-infomal bipartisan talks involving some of the Senate Democrats who voted to advance the GOP bill in March.
Wary progressives believe those senators — perhaps with Schumer’s blessing — will agree to reopen the government in exchange for no more than a verbal assurance to continue negotiating an extension to the subsidies that Republicans could renege on later.
“A handshake agreement is capitulation,” Levin said. “Health care and rescission language is the demand, and it’s broadly popular. No reason to cave for less.”
Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) told reporters last week, “The American people cannot live on promises.”
For now, however, Democrats are reveling in moments of GOP disunity this week exposed by splits on handling the expiring insurance subsidies as well as the Trump administration’s escalating threats against federal employees, including mass firings or the withholding of back pay for furloughed workers. That has only hardened Democrats’ resolve to continue the shutdown.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who broke with Schumer on the March vote and called on Democrats at that time to “stand up and take some risks,” said this week that he has been pleased by the new tone set at the top.
“A lot of people wondered whether we would be bullied again, and we have not been,” he said. “So I think Sen. Schumer understands the gravity of this moment.”
“The Senate is doing exactly what we need them to do,” added purple-district Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.).
But Rep. Jimmy Gomez, another California Democrat, said he was content to watch Schumer manage the politics of his own chamber, saying those threatening to oust him as leader were “just all posturing.”
“It’s easy for us to say that,” he said. “If their own delegation starts turning on them — New York — that’s a different story.”
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
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