Senate Democrats are resisting outside pressure to turn against their longtime leader, Charles E. Schumer of New York, after he abandoned a party fight in favor of preventing a government shutdown.
Still, the leading liberal voice in the caucus is not happy.
Mr. Schumer was one of 10 Senate Democrats who put aside their disdain for President Trump and voted to end a filibuster of a Republican stopgap spending bill, although he and seven of those Democrats joined their party colleagues in opposition on final passage.
Democrats inside and outside Congress are furious at Mr. Schumer for greenlighting the passage of a government funding bill that does nothing to check Mr. Trump and his cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency.
“That is an absolute dereliction of duty on the part of the Democratic leadership,” Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democrats and is a member of Mr. Schumer’s leadership team, said on social media. “Nobody in this Senate should have voted for this dangerous bill.”
The Republican stopgap, which continues government spending through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year, passed the Senate on Friday on a 54-46 vote. Mr. Trump signed the bill into law Saturday.
SEE ALSO: GOP wins shutdown showdown with Senate Democrats ending filibuster of spending bill
With the spending bill out of the way, House and Senate Republicans have a clear path to advancing Mr. Trump’s legislative agenda. That includes extending his 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire this year.
The president lauded Mr. Schumer for “doing the right thing.”
“The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming,” he said on social media. “We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights. Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning!”
Mr. Sanders said the bill “moves our country toward authoritarianism by usurping Congress’ constitutional responsibility to determine how federal funds are spent and creates at the same time a slush fund for Elon Musk and Donald Trump to continue their war against the working families of our country.”
Allowing the bill to pass was the “wrong judgment,” Sen. Adam B. Schiff, California Democrat, said in a social media post. “The only hope that we have of standing up to this president, of pushing back against the destructive actions he’s taking is if we stay together.”
Neither Mr. Schiff nor Mr. Sanders named Mr. Schumer directly, and their posts notably stopped short of calling for new Senate leadership, as some Democrats outside Congress were doing.
“With due respect, Senate Democrats should replace Sen. Schumer with a bold and strategic next-generation leader,” Dean Phillips, a former House Democrat and presidential candidate, said on social media. “Twenty five years in the Senate and eight as Leader is enough. It’s time for change.”
In the Senate, the criticisms were more muted. A handful of Democrats notably declined to say whether they still had confidence in their leader.
“I can only speak for my own decision,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy, Connecticut Democrat. He said he opposed advancing the Republican spending stopgap because of the harmful effects it could have on the country and his state.
Most Senate Democrats who were asked about Mr. Schumer’s decision to help Republicans overcome a filibuster on the bill said they respected the minority leader’s decision, even several who voted differently.
“I support Chuck Schumer,” Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, New Mexico Democrat, told The Washington Times.
Asked whether he thought Mr. Schumer made the right decision to allow the Republican stopgap to advance, Mr. Lujan said Mr. Schumer had a tougher call than most others as the Democratic leader.
“Every senator has a responsibility to their constituents across the country and go explain their votes to them,” said Mr. Lujan, who voted against the stopgap and end to the filibuster.
Regardless of how they voted, Senate Democrats agreed the call was tough.
“This was a choice between two repugnant results,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat. He did not fault Mr. Schumer but blamed Republicans for creating the no-win scenario.
Mr. Schumer said he believed his members understood and respected his choice.
A shutdown, he said, would have given the president and DOGE more power to slash the government bureaucracy and the flexibility to deem which services and employees are essential. He said Democrats did not have an off-ramp for a shutdown and that Republicans could have cherry-picked parts of the government to reopen while leaving others shuttered.
“The bottom line is, you have to make these decisions based on what is best for not only your party but your country,” he said. “And I firmly believe and always have that I’ve made the right decision.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, and his leadership team refused during a press conference Friday to support Mr. Schumer’s decision to avert a shutdown.
“Next question,” Mr. Jeffries told multiple reporters asking whether he had lost confidence in Mr. Schumer or whether he thought it was time for new leadership in the Senate.
When he finally answered one of the questions, Mr. Jeffries said the fight was larger than one person.
“This is about the American people,” Mr. Jeffries said. “That’s our view, right? We made a decision based on the four corners of this bill. It will hurt everyday Americans, in our opinion, as Donald Trump and House Republicans have been doing for the last several weeks.”
Sen. Mark R. Warner, a Virginia Democrat who did not vote with Mr. Schumer to prevent a shutdown, said it was easy for House Democrats to offer critiques when their votes weren’t deciding factors in whether the government remained open.
“The House has the luxury of almost having a free vote,” he said.
Mr. Warner said he had confidence in Mr. Schumer, but a few other Senate Democrats declined to answer that question.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, ignored that question and another about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, New York Democrat, who rebuked Mr. Schumer’s decision as a “betrayal.”
The senator did respond to a question about whether Democrats were in the midst of a civil war.
“We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis provoked by co-presidents of the United States Musk and Trump, who don’t think that either the Constitution or the statutory law applies to them,” Ms. Warren said. “We’re fighting back on every front, but make no mistake: We’re fighting an enemy that does not follow the law, and that makes it pretty tough for lawmakers.”
• Alex Miller contributed to this report.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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