More outcry over Sen. Chuck Schumer's vote for Republican spending bill
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has defended his vote for a Republican spending bill as the best way to slow President Donald Trump's agenda while avoiding a government shutdown. Credit: AP / Ben Curtis
WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s vote Friday to pass a Republican spending bill to avert a government shutdown sparked immediate debate among congressional Democrats that continued Sunday over party strategy aimed at fighting President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.
House Democrats appearing on the Sunday morning political talk shows repeatedly said the minority party needed to apply a different approach to challenging Trump’s push to slash government services. While some criticized Schumer’s vote, they stopped short of saying he should step down.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who voted against the GOP spending bill, told NBC’s "Meet the Press" he supports Schumer (D-N.Y.) but argued, "The only way that we are going to be effective as a caucus is if we change our tactics."
"Leader Schumer has a very difficult job. I don’t envy the job that he has," Murphy said. "And the question is really for the members of his Democratic caucus: Are we willing to fight? I admit that it would take some risk-tolerant behavior in order to effectively stand up to this president. And so the question really is for my party writ large, are we willing to do the very difficult things necessary to meet this moment?"
Schumer, speaking to The New York Times, defended his vote, saying a shutdown would have handed Trump wider authority to continue gutting federal agencies and cutting social service spending, without congressional oversight.
"The damage they can do under a shutdown is much worse than any other damage that they could do," Schumer said in a Sunday episode of the Times podcast "The Interview."
Asked whether it was time for him to step down as leader of the Senate Democrats, Schumer did not answer directly, but acknowledged "there is spirited disagreement on which was the right vote."
"We disagreed on this issue, but that doesn’t diminish in any way how we’re going to fight every step of the way against Trump," Schumer said. "And I believe that we’re going to have some real successes."
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, appearing on MSNBC’s "The Weekend," said he and Schumer "disagreed" on the approach to combating the GOP’s spending plan.
"At the same period of time, Chuck and I agree on the overwhelming majority of issues moving forward, including our effort to oppose the largest potential Medicaid cut in American history, and we're all going to have to come together," Jeffries said, referring in part to a House Republican budget plan that directs a key House committee overseeing Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to propose $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex.), appearing on CNN’s "State of the Union," criticized Schumer’s vote, saying, "Senate Democrats have to sit down and take a look and decide whether or not Chuck Schumer is the one to lead in this moment."
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), appearing on the show after Crockett, called Schumer a "great leader." When asked if he was suited for the job, she replied: "I don't think we should be talking about that and giving Trump any more wins."
Asked about the criticism over Schumer’s vote, his spokesperson, Angelo Roefaro, told Newsday: “Senator Schumer knows a long time shutdown would have been horrible for Long Island and all of New York, particularly people who rely on critical services like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.”
Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre), who both voted against the spending plan, could not be immediately reached for comment on Sunday. Both had raised concerns about $111 million in cuts to Long Island projects included in the bill.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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