Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) insisted Tuesday he’s the best person to lead the opposition against President Trump, as he faces protests and outrage from Democrats over his vote to support the GOP’s funding bill to avoid a government shutdown.
“I am the best leader for the Senate,” Schumer said on “CBS Mornings."
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) were on different pages last week over the funding showdown.
Every House Democrat except one voted to oppose the Republican continuing resolution (CR), with some members in Trump-carried districts taking tough votes to oppose the president’s funding plan.
Schumer and nine other Democrats in the Senate voted to advance the GOP’s stopgap bill, giving Republicans a big win.
Jeffries initially stayed mum when asked if he had confidence in Schumer as Democratic leader in the Senate, but he responded without hesitation when presented with the same question on Tuesday.
“Yes,” Jeffries said. “Yes, I do.”
Schumer said he and Jeffries will be coordinating events to highlight how Trump’s policies negatively impact the working class.
“It’s beginning to work, [Trump’s] numbers have come down,” Schumer said. “If we keep at it everyday relentless and fighting … Trump’s numbers will get much lower and his popularity and effectiveness will decline.”
Schumer is on a media tour promoting his book on anti-semitism, although he’s cancelled several public appearances due to “security concerns” posed by left-wing protesters.
The Democratic leader defended his vote, saying a shutdown would have been orders of magnitude worse because Trump and Elon Musk would have used it as justification to further gut federal agencies.
“I did a thing a leader should do," Schumer said. "Even when people don’t see the danger around the curve, my job was to alert people to it and I knew I’d get some bullets."
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that Schumer is in the toughest battle of his leadership career:
“Multiple senators complained about the lack of a clear strategy from their leadership heading into last week’s standoff with Senate and House Republicans over the House-passed funding bill, according to sources familiar with the sometimes heated discussions within the Senate Democratic Caucus.”
Primary challenges could be around the corner for Democratic leaders and incumbents, as anger and unrest builds among the liberal base.
The Hill’s Amie Parnes writes: “Progressives are increasingly frustrated with the current leadership of the party and with the messaging coming from Democrats in general. And the spending bill has spurred furious talk that a new crop of leaders should emerge.”
