Hakeem Jeffries throws Chuck Schumer a key lifeline

• Asked at a press conference last Friday if it is time for new leadership in the Senate, Jeffries replied: "Next question."
• However, the two New York Democrats met Sunday and released a joint statement Tuesday morning vowing to fight potential Medicaid cuts in Republicans' budget reconciliation bill.

Driving the news: Jeffries held a press conference in his district Tuesday with Congressional Black Caucus chair Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) for a "Medicaid Day of Action."

• Jeffries said the two leaders had a "good conversation" Sunday about "making sure we all speak with one voice in the effort to stop these Medicaid cuts from ever being enacted into law."
• Asked if he supports Schumer remaining as Senate Democratic leader, Jeffries said: "Yes ... Yes I do."

Zoom out: Jeffries' comments come as Schumer is taking significant flak from the Democratic base, and many of Jeffries' own members, for supporting a stopgap GOP spending bill.

• Many Democrats had hoped to use the possibility of a government shutdown as leverage to try to place guardrails on DOGE, but Schumer argued that a shutdown would have played into President Trump's hands.
• The backlash has gotten so intense that Schumer has opted to cancel multiple stops on his book tour — for which liberal groups were organizing protests — over "security concerns."