House Democrats fume at Schumer in closed-door meeting
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at a press conference at the U.S. Senate on Sept. 3. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
House Democrats' weekly caucus meeting Tuesday included a vent session toward Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on government funding, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: House Democrats still feel that Schumer betrayed them in March by supporting a Republican funding measure that they almost unanimously opposed — and they're worried he'll do it again.
- "There was anticipatory anger rooted in what went down in March ... Schumer was named explicitly," one House Democrat told Axios on the condition of anonymity to offer details of the private meeting.
- "The overriding concern was that Senate Democrats will get cold feet. Schumer can't sh*t the bed."
- A spokesperson for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment.
State of play: The government is scheduled to shut down on Oct. 1 unless Congress passes a measure to extend federal funding.
- Neither chamber is on track to pass all of its annual appropriations bills by the end of the month, meaning Republican leaders will likely put a short-term funding measure called a continuing resolution up for a vote.
- Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have signaled they want a reversal of some health care provisions in the "big, beautiful bill" in exchange for Democratic votes.
What we're hearing: Some House Democrats aren't buying Schumer's resolve. "We don't want to get screwed again by the Senate," a second House Democrat who was in attendance told Axios.
- A senior House Democrat said there was "mucho" anger in the meeting about Schumer and the Senate.
- Several moderates, including Reps. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), stood up to express the views of their constituents that the party should put up a fight over government funding, according to several lawmakers.
- "Lots of concern ... that we aren't sending a message that fights enough," is how a fourth House Democrat described the overall message (a Schneider spokesperson disputed that he criticized leadership).
Zoom in: Jeffries, for his part, told his members he is willing to reach a solution to the government funding impasse but not at the expense of Americans' health care, according to lawmakers and leadership sources.
- Members broadly agreed that Democrats shouldn't give in without any of their demands being met, though there was debate about what that fight should look like and to what extent the party should go.
- Specific health care-focused proposals, including extending Affordable Care Act subsidies and reversing Medicaid cuts in the "big, beautiful bill," have been floated as potential demands for the administration.
- But some in the party want more profound checks on what they see as creeping authoritarianism and power consolidation by the Trump administration.
Between the lines: The Democratic base has been furiously exhorting their party's elected officials to take more of a scorched-earth approach to resisting the Trump administration.
- Throughout the year, Democratic lawmakers have been harangued at events and in phone calls by grassroots supporters who say the party isn't fighting hard enough.
- The government funding deadline is effectively one of the party's only opportunities to exercise leverage over the Trump administration — though some in the party establishment fear the political fallout of forcing a shutdown.
Reality check: Any such concessions may cost more votes from Republicans than they gain from Democrats, making them a risky proposition.
- Nonprofit news outlet NOTUS reported Tuesday that some Republicans are already ruling out extending ACA subsidies — one of the least extreme proposals and one that even some GOP centrists support.
The bottom line: Asked Monday if he is worried about another Senate rug-pull, Jeffries told Axios, "House and Senate Democrats have been in close touch throughout this process and we will continue to meet in regularity."
- "I know that they are communicating more, [Jeffries] has conveyed that to us," said the second House Democrat, "but I don't feel a level of confidence about anything right now."
- Schumer also faces something of a no-win situation in the government funding fight, the lawmaker argued: "I think no matter what happens, people come after Schumer [because] we need generational change."
