Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) may not have a tight grip on his post. Some Democrats are angry that their party surrendered in the government shutdown fight, and are placing the blame on the caucus elder.
Democrats are “questioning Chuck Schumer’s future” after the shutdown, said CNN. The 75-year-old is “facing more grumbling than he ever has” from fellow Senate Democrats and even his own New York constituents. There are few expectations of a “coup or immediate change” that would move him out of power in the near term. But some analysts say he “could go down in a primary challenge if he tries” to run for another term in 2028. Schumer is in his “last term, and he may be the only one on Earth unaware of it,” said one House Democrat.
“It’s time for the Democratic Party to head in a new direction,” said Sara Pequeño at USA Today. Schumer is “incapable” of being a leader who is “quick on their feet and ready to do things differently” in opposing President Donald Trump. The shutdown is not the only issue. Schumer also “failed” to endorse Zohran Mamdani, the victorious Democratic candidate in the recent New York City mayoral election. The party’s rank-and-file voters are noticing these shortcomings: Just 35% of Democrats approve of the minority leader’s performance. There is a reason Schumer is taking heat from Democrats. “He deserves it,” said Pequeño.
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Those poll numbers make Schumer the “most unpopular Senate leader with his own party” on record, said Ross Barkan at New York magazine. The senator is seen by progressives and “restive moderates” as a leader “out of touch with the current mood.” And in his home state, polls show him losing a primary challenge to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) by a substantial margin. Schumer has been a “lock to win reelection” for decades, but he now might be “wise to retire rather than run again.”
Those looking to replace Schumer as minority leader are “missing two critical ingredients,” said Axios. They do not have a “clear path to his ouster,” nor is there a Senate Democrat “who’d want the job.” Some observers say the movement to push Schumer out of leadership is just beginning. The conversation about his future is “legitimized and the conversation is moving forward,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
What next?
Schumer does have defenders, said NBC News. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has pushed back against critics like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) who have publicly called out the Senate leader. House Democrats “should focus on their own leadership,” Kaine said. But Khanna is pressing the case. Schumer is “out of touch with the grassroots” of the Democratic Party, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“Schumer isn’t going anywhere” for now, said Time. That is because “no one who wants him gone has the power to make it happen.” That does not mean he will regain popularity. Schumer has “come to personify Democrats’ discontent.”
