This post was originally published on Truthout.org under a Creative Commons 4.0 license.
Democrats are calling for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) to be replaced after he reportedly helped strike a deal with the GOP to end the government shutdown with zero meaningful concessions.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” wrote Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) in a post on social media. “Maybe it’s time for those in the back to make it to the front and for the old guard to make way?” he said in a follow up post.
Schumer, who has led the Democratic caucus in the Senate since 2017, voted against the resolution. However, the group of Senate Democrats who voted for the deal had conferred with Schumer through the negotiation process, and thus had his tacit approval.
The deal, which many other Democrats have denounced as “terrible” and a betrayal, was advanced in a vote on Sunday evening, in one of the first steps to reopen the government after a historic shutdown. The deal contains effectively no concessions to Democrats — only a commitment from the Trump administration to rehire certain government workers and a pledge from Republicans for a floor vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that save households thousands of dollars yearly on health care plans.
Democratic Senators Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) were leaders of the deal. Five others in the Democratic caucus — Dick Durbin (Illinois), Tim Kaine (Virginia), Angus King (Maine), John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), and Jacky Rosen (Nevada) — also voted “yes.”
“Sen. Schumer has failed to meet this moment and is out of touch with the American people,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan). “The Democratic Party needs leaders who fight and deliver for working people. Schumer should step down.”
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin) listed recent, disqualifying offenses by Schumer in a post on social media. “Don’t endorse or say who you voted for in NYC despite there being a Dem candidate,” he wrote Sunday night, referring to left-wing New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani. “Get Dem Senators to negotiate a terrible ‘deal’ that does nothing real about healthcare. Screw over a national political party. Profile of scourge? Next.”
“If a political ‘leader’ doesn’t get outrage from the public & House Dems over what happened, they aren’t leadership. What Senate Dems who voted for this horseshit deal did was fuck over all the hard work people put in to Tuesday’s elections. Healthcare matters. Not platitudes,” Pocan continued.
Numerous House and Senate Democrats across the political spectrum stopped short of calling for Schumer’s ousting, but still harshly criticized the deal — which comes despite polls showing most Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown.
Outgoing Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said the resolution “fails to meet the needs of America’s working families.”
“If Republicans wanted to vote to extend subsidies, they would’ve done it already. Capitulating is unacceptable,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania).
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) called the deal “very, very bad,” pointing out that the resolution will help cause health care premiums for millions of Americans to double or even triple, while also effectively kicking millions off of insurance, causing an estimated 50,000 deaths per year.
Democratic candidates for Senate have also called for Schumer’s ousting. Massachusetts candidate Seth Moulton said that the vote is “another example of why we need new leadership.” Graham Platner, who is challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, said the vote “happened because Chuck Schumer failed in his job yet again.”
However, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-California) defended Schumer in a press conference on Monday, responding “yes and yes” when asked if Schumer is “effective” and should “keep his job.”
In an interview on Monday, Khanna said that the vote is a squandering of political power at a time when Republicans were “on the ropes, scrambling” to make a more effective deal. He added that the reason more Democrats aren’t calling for Schumer’s ousting is because they are afraid of offending donors who contribute to Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“We’ve got to make a choice in this party: Are we gonna be beholden to the donors that have gotten us two terms of Donald Trump, or are we gonna listen to people?” he asked.
