Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was seen as the only person to handle the reins of the Senate Democratic Caucus after Harry Reid died. Now, everyone is looking to vote this guy off the island. In less than a week, a man who was respected and revered among the rank-and-file on the Hill among congressional Democrats is being primed to end up like Robespierre for refusing to get into a shutdown fight with the Trump White House.
The New York liberal’s reasons were clear and rational: this wouldn’t be a normal shutdown, as Trump would likely use the shutdown to accelerate the whittling down of the federal workforce. The continuing resolution was clean, and there was nothing really to oppse here other than ‘we don’t like Trump.’ That’s not a sane reason to shut down government. More importantly, there was no message or plan for a shutdown fight. The disunity among congressional Democrats is unprecedented—Nancy Pelosi was urging all-out rebellion against Schumer before the Senate advanced and passed the CR yesterday.
CNN’s Van Jones noted how the fallout from this will not be pleasant for Mr. Schumer, who he says is enduring a “volcanic eruption of outrage.”
"I've never seen this level of volcanic anger at a Democrat, ever,” he said.
🚨DEMS IN DISARRAY: Van Jones says there’s a "volcanic eruption of outrage” from Democrats at Chuck Schumer:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) March 15, 2025
"I've never seen this level of volcanic anger at a Democrat, ever."
"There's an emotional need to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk from running over this party. And I… pic.twitter.com/mYfPmbNUca
The Democrats want a fight, need a fight, and Schumer isn’t the guy apparently. Jones noted how his party must have their version of a Mitch McConnell, who, gave Barack Obama fits during his presidency, as he could push through Republican legislative items when Democrats technically held all the cards at the time.
Don’t be surprised if Schumer gets a primary challenge over this vote. Let the Democrats tear themselves to pieces on this one. It’s onto the budget reconciliation package for the GOP.