Several months ago, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) helped Republicans pass a procedural vote that blocked a government shutdown.
While Schumer and Democrats did not vote in support of the continuing resolution, they did support legislation to allow the GOP to pass the legislation with a simple majority vote.
Now, Schumer says that will not happen, as he is leaning into a government shutdown that he decried only a few months ago.
With the deadline looming and a government shutdown imminent if Democrats did not blink, Schumer at the time said that passing a continuing resolution was the lesser of two evils.
He stated, "While the Republican bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much much worse. For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option.”
Schumer continued, "It is not a clean CR. It is deeply partisan. It doesn't address far too many of this country's needs, but I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power in a government shutdown is a far worse option."
He took considerable heat for this, with numerous high-profile liberals and Democrats calling for his resignation for caving to Trump.
Schumer knew, like all things in politics, the controversy would die down, and since he was not up for re-election in 2026, he really had nothing to fear, as something else was bound to wipe this off the front page.
He stated, “Look, I’m not stepping down.”
The senator continued, “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.”
Schumer also knew that another continuing resolution was potentially looming, so he could let this one pass, then play hardball to flip the news cycle much closer to the 2026 election cycle, and that is exactly what he is doing.
The government shutdown that would have harmed hard-working Americans and the country is now being touted as the only way to help them, so you can see why I have a bit of sarcasm in my tone right now.
Schumer declared, “The only way to avoid a shutdown is to work in a bipartisan way, with a bill that can get both Republican and Democratic votes in the Senate. However, as we near the funding deadline, Republicans are once again threatening to go-at-it-alone -- heading our country towards a shutdown.”
He continued, “With the Trump administration’s attempt of the so-called ‘pocket rescission,’ it is clear that Republicans are prioritizing chaos over governing, partisanship over partnership, and their own power over the American people.”
Democrats completely shut out the GOP when Joe Biden was in office, ramming through numerous spending packages via reconciliation, yet now they are shouting about partisanship. As I have noted before, Democrats are not interested in bargaining, so what is the point? This is why I constantly rail for new leadership in both parties that will decide to wipe the slate clean and start over. If they don’t, this cycle of tit-for-tat will never end.
