Democrats Rage At Chuck Schumer After His Shutdown Fold | EUROtoday

Democrats throughout the ideological spectrum are sharply criticizing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for caving on his risk to dam a Republican invoice to avert a authorities shutdown.

Schumer on Wednesday introduced Democrats would filibuster the laws, however then on Thursday revealed that he himself deliberate to vote for it, signaling that the filibuster probably wouldn’t occur in any case.

Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), a member of the average New Democrat Coalition, in contrast Schumer unfavorably to former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“McConnell abused the filibuster to make America worse,” Casten wrote on social media. “Schumer is refusing to use the filibuster to… accomplish what, exactly?”

“I think it is a huge slap in the face, and I think that there’s a wide sense of betrayal,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a number one progressive, advised reporters.

“Democrats unwillingness to stand up for Congress’s constitutional right to prevent Trump from unilaterally shutting down social security offices or firing veterans is craven,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), one other progressive, mentioned on social media. “If we’re afraid of blame, we need to get better at persuasion—not rolling over.”

The House handed the invoice on Tuesday with all Democrats besides Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) voting in opposition to the measure. The vote was a uncommon feat of unity for Republicans, with even far-right members who hate authorities spending lining up behind House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and President Donald Trump, who threatened to punish dissenters.

All eyes then turned to the Senate, the place Democrats have the facility to dam the invoice, because it takes 60 votes to go laws and Republicans maintain solely 53 seats. The risk of a filibuster and subsequent authorities shutdown represented one in every of Democrats’ few factors of leverage to verify Trump and his billionaire adviser, Elon Musk.

Even although Musk and Trump have been unilaterally canceling congressionally mandated spending and flattening federal companies, Schumer reckoned {that a} authorities shutdown would solely give them extra leeway to do what they needed. In a shutdown, it could be as much as the Trump administration to find out which personnel and insurance policies rely as “essential” and are allowed to proceed.

“A shutdown would give Donald Trump the keys to the city, the state and the country,” Schumer mentioned on the Senate flooring when he introduced his choice.

But no person actually is aware of how a shutdown could be completely different this yr than in years earlier than. Other Democrats mentioned not shutting the federal government would have primarily the identical outcome Schumer described. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) advised reporters Wednesday that the House invoice “provides, in my view, a continuing blank check to shut down government agencies, as they’re doing right now.”

The laws funds the federal government till September. It omits language Democrats had sought to stop Trump from persevering with his efforts to stifle spending. Its harshest provision will drive town of Washington, D.C. to chop round 5% from its funds, doubtlessly that means layoffs for a whole bunch of academics and cops.

Past authorities shutdowns, alternatively, have resulted in hundreds of federal employees being despatched dwelling with out pay, with interruptions to nonessential capabilities resembling meals inspections, customer support at nationwide parks and advantages verification on the Social Security Administration. Of its personal initiative, after all, the Trump administration has been sending employees dwelling and contemplating doubtlessly main alterations to the best way Social Security interacts with beneficiaries.

The restricted public polling signifies voters have been set responsible Republicans for the shutdown. A Quinnipiac University survey launched Thursday discovered simply 32% of registered voters would have blamed congressional Democrats for a shutdown, whereas 31% would have blamed congressional Republicans and 22% would have blamed Trump.

On social media, a variety of liberal punditstogether with many continuously loyal to the Democratic Party, known as for a main problem to Schumer, who will not be up for reelection till 2028.

The criticism didn’t completely come from the occasion’s left wing. Stefanie Feldman, a longtime aide to former President Joe Biden, didn’t instantly title Schumer however urged on social media that Democrats have been doing little however giving up congressional authority.

“The shutdown is already happening. It is called Trump and Musk’s demolition of our government,” she wrote. “The question is whether Congress will cede its remaining checks on the powers of the president.”

Among the few Democrats keen to defend Schumer was Adam Jentleson, a former high aide to Sens. John Fetterman and the late Harry Reid, who argued Democratic leverage within the second is minimal.

“Schumer is right. Dems are understandably spoiling for a fight but this was not it,” Jentleson wrote on social media. “The idea that there was leverage in a shutdown was magical thinking – it’d be a gift to DOGE, more people would be hurt and it would’ve ended with a worse deal.

Speaker Johnson adjourned the House after Republicans approved the bill on Tuesday, sending representatives home from Washington. House Democrats headed to nearby Leesburg, Virginia, for an annual retreat billed as an issues conference. Lawmakers looked at their phones Thursday afternoon eager for news about the Senate vote and anxious that their colleagues would cave.

“We keep hearing this mandate language when in fact, the election was far closer than people will give credit to and at the end of the day, we’re basically an evenly split nation,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, advised HuffPost. “And right now, we’re being forced by a slim majority in the House of Representatives to eat what they’re dishing out, and we’re not willing to do that.”

CORRECTION: A earlier model of this story misidentified Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as a Republican. He is a Democrat.