Chuck Schumer Strikes Back in Bitter Dem Civil War Over Trump

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rebuffed calls from his own party to step down as his party’s leader over his decision to vote to keep the government open.

“I’m not stepping down,” Schumer told Meet the Press in a Sunday interview. Schumer tried to tamp down calls earlier this week after some House Democrats urged him to step aside.

Schumer told moderator Kristen Welker he knew his decision to vote for Republicans' continuing resolution to fund the government and avoid a shutdown would spark controversy, but he defended his decision as necessary to retain oversight of the executive branch.

“Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power to determine what is, quote, ‘essential,’” Schumer said. “They can determine without any court supervision. The courts have ruled it’s solely up to the executive what to shut down. With Musk, and DOGE, and Trump, and this guy Vought ... as the head OMB, they would eviscerate the federal government.”

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Schumer maintained his vote was one of “principle” and “conviction,” and he said the caucus was still united in its efforts to fight President Donald Trump.

“Our goal, our plan, which we’re united on, is to make Donald Trump the quickest lame duck in modern history by showing how bad his policies are,” he said. “He represents the oligarchs, as I said. He’s hurting average people in every way.”

He also pushed back against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s suggestion that Democrats should have sought to exert leverage over Republicans, claiming on Sunday they had “no leverage point.”

“What we got, at the end of the day, is avoiding the horror of a shutdown,” he said. “There was no leverage point that we could’ve—we could’ve asked for things, they just would’ve said no.”

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Schumer’s comments came after multiple congressional Democrats and Democratic advocacy groups suggested he needed to make room for other leaders.

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, told a town hall on Wednesday that, as Democrats did with President Joe Biden over his decision on whether to step aside as the party’s presidential nominee, they would have to reckon with their leaders' agility as the moment calls for it.

“It’s important for people to know when it’s time to go, and I think in the case of Joe Biden, and we’re going to have conversations, I’m sure in the foreseeable future, about all the Democratic leadership,” he said.

House Democrat Reps. Delia Ramirez of Illinois and Glenn Ivey of Maryland also told constituents at town halls they thought Schumer should resign.