Schumer says he's staying put amid growing resignation pressure
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) walks toward the senate side of the U.S. Capitol on March 14 . Photo: Kent Nishimura for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he's "not stepping down" from leadership in an interview aired Sunday amid mounting pressure from within his party to abandon his post.
Why it matters: He's remaining defiant as Democratic lawmakers and outside groups pile on calls for him to step aside. But Schumer, who dealt a key blow to former President Biden's reelection bid, argued he's "absolutely" not making the same mistake Biden did when he hesitated to step down.
- "I did this out of conviction," Schumer said on NBC News' "Meet the Press," about his spending bill vote that angered some Democrats.
- He added his caucus has "all agreed to respect each other" over their differing opinions.
- Despite Schumer's public confidence, some House Democrats are urging their colleague Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) behind closed doors to challenge him for his Senate seat in 2028.
Driving the news: Schumer acknowledged that the GOP-led funding bill that passed with support from some Senate Democrats was "certainly bad" but contended a government shutdown would be "15 or 20 times worse."
- He argued that a shutdown would give the Trump administration "sole power" to determine what is "essential," granting them latitude to further "eviscerate the federal government."
- Schumer further contended there would be no "off ramp" for a shutdown, and that only "those evil people at the top of the Executive Branch" could turn the lights back on.
What he's saying: "It was a vote of principle," Schumer said.
- "Sometimes when you're a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve," he continued. "And I did it out of pure conviction as to what a leader should do and what the right thing for America and my party was. People disagree."
The other side: People do disagree, with many House Democrats viewing Schumer's vote as a show of weakness rather than of resolute leadership.
- Progressive "Squad" Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Ocasio-Cortez added their fuel to the House fire Thursday, with Omar characterizing the Senate support for the GOP bill as giving up "our first point of leverage" at a town hall.
- Ocasio-Cortez called for "a Democratic Party that fights harder for us" at a rally alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Nevada.
- While neither directly called for Schumer's resignation, other House Dems have openly backed a changing of the Democratic guard.
Zoom in: Sanders, in an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week," said the bill's passage "should not have happened, period."
- He noted that "Schumer is the leader of the party" — but the "bottom line," he said, is a broader issue beyond the Senate minority leader.
- "It's not just Chuck Schumer," he said, taking aim at "a Democratic party ... dominated by billionaires" that is out of touch with the issues of everyday Americans.
Asked about Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) dig that she doesn't "give away anything for nothing" — something she believed "happened the other day" — Schumer told NBC's Kristen Welker, "what we got ... is avoiding the horror of a shutdown."
- If Democrats had "asked for things," he said, Republicans "just would've said no."
The big picture: The Democratic leader is steadfast in his self-defense. But the battle is bigger than him.
- The growing Schumer scorn underlines the party's urgent divide over how to handle President Trump's (at times legally dubious) executive steamroller.
- Schumer agreed Sunday that the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis in the early days of Trump 2.0.
- "Democracy is at risk," he said, later adding, "Now, we have to fight that back in every single way."
Go deeper: Resistance backlash upends Chuck Schumer's book tour
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Sen. Bernie Sanders.
