Democrats on Capitol Hill are unhappy after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) mishandled last week’s shutdown showdown, and they aren’t hiding it.
Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland is the latest lawmaker to take shots at the party leader. While Schumer has spent the last few days in damage-control mode, Ivey told Politico Wednesday that Democrats “can’t afford to miss the moment again.”
In response to the massive blowback, Schumer has spent the last few days on defense.
“If he can get himself together and come — you know, get right on this vote, and we get another shot at it, OK,” Ivey said. “But if he’s going to do the same thing again when this bill comes up six months from now, we can’t afford that.”
After the House passed the Republican-led funding bill on March 11, the Senate was tasked with keeping the government open before the March 14 deadline. In order to vote on the continuing resolution, the bill needed to clear a procedural vote called cloture, which required 60 votes.
In other words, Democrats had the decision to reach across the aisle and join Republicans to pass the funding bill, which was backed by President Donald Trump, or to dig their heels in and shut down the government.
Schumer initially signaled his support for a shutdown but later changed his position in favor of passing the CR to avoid a shutdown. Schumer argued that a shutdown would be worse than the funding bill, but his reversal sparked outrage throughout the Democratic Party. In the end, 10 Democrats joined 52 Republicans to advance the bill.
“We’ve got a limited number of shots at being able to fight back against the Trump administration and what they’re doing,” Ivey said. “We can’t afford to miss the moment again.”
Several prominent Democrats, like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), denounced Schumer’s approach, and the rank and file largely felt the same. Ivey echoed his colleagues’ concerns about Schumer, saying, “Maybe he needs to go.”
“Hakeem met the moment last week,” Ivey said. “Schumer missed it.”
In response to the massive blowback, Schumer has spent the last few days on defense. Schumer postponed his book tour and spent the weekend doing several media hits in an attempt to preserve his reputation. Even still, Democrats aren’t buying it.
“Everybody doesn’t have to do the same temperament, everybody doesn’t have to do the same messaging,” Ivey said, “as long as they’re doing what they need to do to win their seats.”
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