Never interrupt the enemy when he’s making a mistake.
Chuck Schumer rejects calls to step down as Senate Democratic leader.
WASHINGTON — A defiant Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that he won’t step aside as the chamber’s top Democrat, rejecting calls from some House colleagues and liberal advocates critical of his move to help pass a Republican funding bill.
“Look, I’m not stepping down,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a taped interview that aired Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Schumer told moderator Kristen Welker he knew there “would be a lot of controversy” when he cast his vote to prevent a shutdown. But he maintains that while the GOP’s six-month bill was “certainly bad,” a shutdown “would be 15 or 20 times worse.”
“Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power to determine what is ‘essential.’ And they can determine without any court supervision. The courts have ruled it’s solely up to the executive what to shut down,” he said, warning that the Trump administration “would eviscerate the federal government.”
“On Day 2, they could say, ‘Oh, SNAP? Feeding hungry children? Not essential.’ On Day 4, ‘Mass transit? All transit? Aid to the states? Not essential. We’re cutting it.’ On Day 6, ‘Medicaid? We’ll cut that by 20%, 30%, 50%, 80%. We’ll go after Social Security. We’ll go after the veterans.’ Their goal is to just eviscerate the federal government so they can give more taxes, and their tax cuts … to their billionaire class over there,” he said.
“Sometimes when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve. And I did it out of pure conviction as to what a leader should do and what the right thing for America and my party was. People disagree.”
It’s up to Democratic senators to choose their leader, and none of them have called on Schumer to quit a post that he has held for more than eight years. But some have entertained questions about whether it’s time for a re-examination. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., told a constituent at a town hall last week that “we’re going to have future conversations about all the Democratic leadership.”
Schumer also rejected comparisons to then-President Joe Biden’s refusal to step down as the 2024 nominee, in response to a question about whether he’s making the same mistake.
“No, absolutely not. I did this out of conviction. And, look, in my caucus, we have a disagreement as to, you know, some people voted one way, some people voted the other. But we’ve all agreed to respect each other because each side saw why the other side felt so strongly about it. And our caucus is united in fighting Donald Trump every step of the way,” Schumer said.
NBC News has reported that some Democrats hope progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., launches a primary bid against Schumer in 2028 if he decides to seek re-election.