Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) forced the Democratic caucus into an abrupt reversal after senators had publicly declared their opposition to the GOP’s continuing resolution. The bill, intended to keep the government open, would allow tech billionaire Elon Musk to continue dismantling federal programs—a move many Democrats opposed.
Despite resistance within his party, Schumer announced that Democrats would provide enough votes to prevent a government shutdown. He defended the decision, expressing concern that the Trump administration could exploit the shutdown to impose further funding and personnel cuts that would be difficult to reverse once the government reopened.
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The decision sparked outrage among Democratic and anti-Trump voices on social media, with many feeling misled and frustrated by what they saw as a lack of true opposition to the Trump administration’s agenda. “Squandering the little power you have left is definitely NOT meeting this terrible moment in history,” wrote Leadership Conference voting rights attorney Leslie Proll.
Columnist Max Kennerly responded to commentator Matthew Yglesias’ suggestion that Senate Democrats backing Schumer were “taking one for the team” by arguing, “They’re not ‘taking one for the team,’ they’re giving up leverage against Republicans so they can give Republicans a blank check to continue doing everything they’ve been doing—including wrecking the country illegally shutting down every part of the federal gov’t they don’t like.”
Former federal prosecutor Eric Lisann sharply criticized Schumer’s floor speech announcing the decision. “Nonsensical blather from Schumer disguising, poorly, cowardice from the Democratic caucus. Republicans are stooges but they have imposed party discipline.
Democratic leadership has been soft and ineffective and is responsible for allowing Trump to run roughshod over this husk of a Congress. They are part of the problem not of the solution.” A small number of voices, however, defended Schumer’s decision, including former Senate staffer Adam Jentleson.
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“Schumer is right,” Jentleson argued. “Dems are understandably spoiling for a fight but this was not it. The idea that there was leverage in a shutdown was magical thinking—it’d be a gift to DOGE, more people would be hurt and it would’ve ended with a worse deal. Fight—but pick smart fights.”
With tensions rising within the Democratic caucus, Schumer’s decision underscores the deep divisions over strategy in the face of the Trump administration’s policies.
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