Inside House Dems' furious anti-Schumer movement

• "There is a massive effort going on with people reaching out to their senators ... still happening this morning," one House Democrat told Axios on Friday.
• "We just need to pick off four or five" senators, the lawmaker said.

What we're hearing: House Democrats are circulating a draft letter to Schumer, a copy of which was obtained by Axios, voicing "strong opposition" to passing the spending measure.

• "The American people sent Democrats to Congress to fight against Republican chaos," they wrote. "Instead of capitulating to their obstruction, we must fight ... we urge you to reject the partisan continuing resolution."
• The letter, first reported by the Washington Post, was signed by 66 Democrats including many moderates and swing-district members.
• Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, led by ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), are also drafting a letter to Schumer urging him to "reject the partisan and harmful" spending measure.

State of play: Schumer sent House Democrats into fits of rage on Thursday by announcing that he would vote to allow Senate Republicans to pass their stopgap government spending bill.

• Democrats have pushed for language in the bill to stop DOGE from cutting congressionally approved spending, but Schumer argued that Democrats would ultimately lose a shutdown fight.
• The announcement came after all House Democrats except Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) voted against the bill, which passed the chamber virtually along party lines Tuesday. Now they feel they walked the plank for nothing.
• President Trump on Friday praised Schumer's "courage" in backing the bill.

The intrigue: It's not just the left pressuring Schumer. "A lot of it is being led by [former Progressive Caucus chair Pramila] Jayapal and AOC, but there are frontliners too trying to whip," one House Democrat told Axios.

• The draft letter is being led by Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.), who represents one of the most competitive districts in the country, according to multiple House Democrats and aides familiar with the matter.
• A centrist House Democrat who represents a battleground district stressed to Axios that "this is NOT an ideological battle. I've never seen our caucus more united around an issue."

What they're saying: Centrist Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), asked by Axios about Schumer's decision to support the stopgap bill, quipped, "Amy Schumer was great in that movie 'Trainwreck.'"

• Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said in a statement that Senate Democrats are "making a strategic calculation that we as a party might live to regret."
• "The CR represents the best (and possibly only) leverage that we as Democrats will have to halt or impede Donald Trump's systematic decimation of the social safety net—particularly Medicaid," he added.

Yes, but: There isn't total unanimity. Some House Democrats, for instance, conceded that senators are in a tougher spot given that the upper chamber's 60-vote filibuster threshold gives them a unique ability to actually force a government shutdown.

• Others feel the letters may be a strategic misstep.
• "I don't think it's the right approach," one House Democrat told Axios of the letters. "Senators don't like being whipped by House members publicly like that."

The bottom line: "The anger from yesterday has not subsided at all," a House Democrat told Axios, adding that members feel "let down."

• "At the end of the day, because this is the only opportunity where we matter, we needed to get more from it, and we got nothing," the lawmaker said.
• The Democrat noted that swing-district House lawmakers already see themselves getting roasted by Republicans for opposing a bill that could now pass anyway: "The NRCC ads are already happening."

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.