Schumer says he won't step down as Senate Democratic leader despite
government funding uproar
[March 24, 2025]
By WILL WEISSERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says he won't
resign his post, despite pressure from some in his party after he voted
to move forward with a Republican spending bill that avoided a
government shutdown.
“Look, I’m not stepping down,” Schumer said in an interview with NBC's
“Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. The New York senator said he knew
voting for the bill backed by Republican President Donald Trump would
spark “a lot of controversy."
“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,” he said. “People
disagree.”
Democrats last week were confronted with two painful options: allowing
passage of a bill they believe gave Trump vast discretion on spending
decisions or letting funding lapse. After Schumer said he'd vote to
advance the spending measure, 10 Democrats supported breaking the
party’s filibuster and allowing the bill to pass.
Schumer's move has sparked outrage from some Democrats and progressive
activists who protested at his office and called on him to resign his
position. They said they'd like to see him face a primary challenge —
perhaps from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The uproar prompted Schumer last week to postpone his book tour amid a
series of planned progressive demonstrations.
Schumer isn't up for reelection until 2028. He told NBC that the
spending bill that funds the government through September was “certainly
bad.”
But he argued that not voting to provide the funding would have been “15
or 20 times worse.” He called his action “a vote of principle," arguing
that “sometimes when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a
real danger that might come down the curve."
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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer gives a television interview
at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben
Curtis)
In an interview that also aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Vermont
Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders criticized Schumer and other members
of Democratic Senate leadership. But he abruptly ended the interview
when asked about Ocasio-Cortez potentially being elected to the
Senate.
“I don’t want to talk about inside-the-beltway stuff,” Sanders said.
Another outspoken progressive, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said on
CNN’s “State of the Union" that “There is no doubt that there is
anger there, and people were very, very disappointed in the Senate.”
Khanna said the anger stemmed from Senate Democrats not seeking
concessions for their support of the GOP-backed spending package —
including possible limits on government spending and job cutting
efforts being led on Trump's behalf by billionaire Elon Musk.
Asked if he'd support Ocasio-Cortez challenging Schumer during a
2028 Democratic Senate primary in New York, Khanna said the decision
to run was up to the congresswoman.
“I haven’t talked to her directly," Khanna said.
He added: “But here’s what I will say: The American people are fed
up with the old guard. There needs to be a renewal.”
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