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| AOC: Mobilizing the troops against Schumer (Getty) |
(Note: This post includes an update at the end bout the results of last night's vote on the budget bill.)
Democrats are seething after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced he would vote with Republicans to help them avoid a government shutdown that could take effect at midnight. Some Dems are so mad they are encouraging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez (AOC, D-NY) to run against Schumer when he's up for re-election in 2008. In the meantime, AOC is trying to mobilize against siding with Republicans as they struggle to pass their own budget bill, even though they hold majorities in both houses of Congress. In essence, AOC's message is this: "Don't help Republicans when they are down. Let them figure it out themselves, without help from us."
Are Democrats finally ready to stand up to Trump, Musk, and their allies in Congress? That seems to be the primary question at the heart of the matter -- and the answer appears to be a resounding yes, according to a report from The New Republic (TNR). Under the headline "Democrats Push AOC to Take Schumer’s Seat After Shutdown Surrender; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has managed to do the impossible: unite almost the entire left (against him), Hafiz Rashid writes:
Senator Chuck Schumer’s decision Thursday to vote for the House GOP funding bill seems to have been the final straw for House Democrats—many of whom are now urging Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to mount a primary challenge against the Senate minority leader.
The New York congresswoman is in Leesburg, Virginia, with her Democratic colleagues for a policy retreat, and has been urging Senate counterparts to fight against the GOP continuing resolution (CR).
“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters, saying she and other House Democrats are “texting, calling, sending carrier pigeons” to get the Democratic base to rally against Schumer’s plan to support the Republican bill.
“We have time to correct course on this decision. Senate Democrats can vote no. We can correct course, and that is the most important thing in front of us right now,” added Ocasio-Cortez, calling out Democratic senators for deciding to “completely roll over and give up on protecting the Constitution.”
Privately, House Democrats, angry with Schumer, are telling her that she should run against Schumer when he is up for re-election in 2028, CNN reports, citing an unnamed member of Congress. Several Democrats in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as well as others encouraged Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday night to primary the minority leader.
Schumer seems to have lit a fire under Democrats, although he probably did not think they would come after him. The big news might be this: Schumer is showing weakness at a time when Democrats want him to show strength. The party's base appears tired of leaders who approach conflict with an "I'll roll over if you rub my belly approach" when their constituents are ready to fight. Is Schumer misreading his own party? That appears to be the case. Rashid writes:
According to the unnamed representative, even centrist Democrats were “so mad” that they were “ready to write checks for AOC for Senate.” Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment on challenging Schumer, saying she was focused on getting Democrats in the Senate to vote no. She noted that all but one House Democrat opposed the GOP bill, unlike in the Senate.
“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think is a huge slap in the face. And I think there is a wide sense of betrayal if things proceed as currently planned.”
Ocasio-Cortez has been vocal and effective in criticizing President Trump and Elon Musk, calling out everything from Trump’s attempt to deport activist Mahmoud Khalil to the president’s lies about January’s deadly D.C. plane crash. While 2028 is still three years away, the New York congresswoman is visibly fighting against the Trump and Republican agenda, and drawing support from unusual places.
UPDATE:
The Senate last night narrowly averted a government shutdown at midnight, passing a G.O.P.-written stopgap spending measure after Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and a small group of Democrats joined Republicans in allowing it to advance.
The final vote to pass the spending measure, which would fund the government through Sept. 30, was 54 to 46, nearly along party lines. But the key vote came earlier, when after days of Democratic agonizing, Mr. Schumer and nine other members of his caucus supplied the votes needed to allow it to move ahead, effectively thwarting a filibuster by their own party in a bid to prevent a shutdown, according to a report at The New York Times.
The action came just hours before a midnight deadline to avoid a lapse in funding.
The spending debate inflamed intraparty tensions among Democrats that have simmered for weeks about how to mount the most effective resistance to President Trump at a time when he is taking full advantage of his governing trifecta — control of the White House, Senate and House — to trample on congressional power, slashing federal funding and firing government workers with little regard for the guardrails that normally constrain the executive branch.
Mr. Schumer’s abrupt decision to reverse himself and allow the spending legislation to advance stunned many of his colleagues and angered many Democratic lawmakers and progressive activists who were spoiling for a shutdown fight to show their determination to counter Mr. Trump. Many in his party vociferously opposed the temporary spending measure, arguing that it was a capitulation to the president that would supercharge his efforts, and those of his billionaire ally Elon Musk, to defund and dismantle broad swaths of the government.
As recently as Wednesday, Mr. Schumer was arguing strongly against the bill and proposing a monthlong alternative to allow Congress to reach an agreement on individual spending measures with specific instructions over how federal funding should be doled out.
But he reversed course on Thursday after Republicans rejected a shorter-term stopgap bill, with a shutdown looming and amid concerns that Democrats would be blamed.
Recognizing that Democrats were left with only an up-or-down alternative, Mr. Schumer argued that a shutdown would only play into the hands of Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk, ceding more power to them to commandeer federal agencies. In a shutdown, he said, the Trump administration could decide which federal workers would be deemed “nonessential” and furloughed. And he warned that Republicans would have little incentive to reopen the government.
“As bad as the C.R. is,” Mr. Schumer said on Friday morning, using shorthand for continuing resolution, “I believe that allowing President Trump to take more power is a far worse option.”
Democrats joining Mr. Schumer in voting to move it forward included several members of his leadership team — Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada — and two who have announced their plans to retire: Senators Gary Peters of Michigan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. Democratic Senators John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire also voted yes, as did Senator Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with their party.
Ms. Shaheen and Mr. King also voted for final passage. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to oppose it.
What most concerns Democrats is that the stopgap measure does not contain the specific congressional instructions to allocate money for programs usually included in spending bills. Top Democrats, including Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the party’s lead appropriator, have warned that the lack of explicit directions would essentially create slush funds for the Trump administration at a time when it has already disregarded spending directives set by Congress.
“We have already seen how far President Trump, Elon Musk, and Russ Vought are willing to twist — and outright break — our laws to suit their will,” Ms. Murray said, referring to Russell Vought, Mr. Trump’s budget director. “But House Republicans are setting them up to make everything so far look like child’s play.”
The measure’s Democratic opponents included senators from across the ideological spectrum. A number of centrists voted against the measure, as well as those facing tough re-election contests next year.
The intraparty divide over the measure boiled down to a dispute among Democrats about which of two bad outcomes would be worse for the country. Mr. Schumer and those who voted to allow the spending patch to move forward argued that failing to do so would cause a shutdown that would give Mr. Trump maximum latitude to fund or defund whatever parts of government he saw fit to. But other Democrats said funding the government when the president was moving unilaterally to cut programs and employees would endorse his actions and cede even more congressional control.
Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who will face voters next year, said in a statement that he was against the legislation in part because it failed “to impose any constraints on the reckless and out-of-control Trump administration.”
“Both parties in Congress must fulfill our constitutional obligation to check the president,” Mr. Ossoff said.
President Trump praised Schumer for supporting the budget bill. From a report at The Hill:
President Trump on Friday congratulated Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) for opting to vote to advance the House-Republican drafted six-month government funding bill, despite pushback from liberal colleagues.
“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took ‘guts’ and courage! The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming. We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,” Trump wrote on Trump Social.
He continued, “Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning! DJT”
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