Schumer: Did he betray the Democrats?
'Schumer had only bad political options'

“Chuck Schumer committed the grave sin of accepting reality,” said Brendan Buck in The New York Times. “And his party is now furious.” The Senate minority leader is facing his Democratic colleagues’ ire after he and nine establishment colleagues voted yes to pass the House Republicans’ six-month stopgap funding bill, which prevented an imminent government shutdown.
Many House and Senate Democrats, who want to try to block President Trump’s agenda at any cost, are questioning his leadership. In the House, the progressive champion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Schumer’s decision “a huge slap in the face” and a “betrayal,” and there is talk she’ll mount a future primary challenge to Schumer in New York.
The progressive wing is “spoiling for a fight to solve its morale problem,” said Nick Catoggio in The Dispatch, but as Schumer recognized, a government shutdown would have been “a gift to Trump.” The spectacle would have diverted the public’s attention from the severe damage his tariff war is doing to the economy. And a shutdown would have given “Elon Musk and his flying monkeys” a pretext “to DOGE-ify the entire federal bureaucracy,” laying off hundreds of thousands of workers who’d never get their jobs back.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Schumer had only bad political options,” said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. But that’s the Democrats’ fault. With Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, Democrats have little leverage other than a Senate filibuster. “That’s the price of voter backlash against four years of progressive governance.”
The party’s frustrated left-wing activists are demanding “theater, not strategy,” said Noah Rothman in National Review. Indeed, polling shows 80 percent of Democrats want their leaders to be more combative toward Trump. But “the current cast of Democrats cannot give their base what it wants.”
“An already demoralized Democratic base” is now wondering where to go from here, said Hayes Brown in MSNBC. The party’s favorability rating has cratered to just 29 percent—its lowest in more than 30 years—as voters lose faith that Democratic leaders can present a viable alternative to Trump, or stand up to an aspiring autocrat as he tramples the Constitution. “In refusing to use every tool in his power to stop Trump,” Schumer has left Democrats wondering if their leaders’ “warnings about the threat Trump poses to the country will be reflected in their actions.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Harvard stares down Trump's tax threat as other Ivies take note
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Higher ed is on high alert as the nation's premier university prepares to take on the fight of its life
-
What to know about Real IDs, America's new identification cards
The Explainer People without a Real ID cannot board a commercial flight as of May 7, 2025
-
What to know before cosigning a loan
the explainer Consider the long-lasting implications before helping out a loved one
-
Kamala Harris steps back on center stage
IN THE SPOTLIGHT In her first major speech since Donald Trump took office, the former presidential candidate took solid aim at this administration as speculation grows about her future
-
How might Democratic fundraising survive Trump's ActBlue investigation?
Today's Big Question Critics say the president is weaponizing the Justice Department
-
A 'meltdown' at Hegseth's Pentagon
Feature The Defense Secretary is fighting to keep his job amid leaked Signal chats and staff turmoil
-
Reining in Iran: Talks instead of bombs
Feature Trump edges closer to a nuclear deal with Iran—but is it too similar to former President Barack Obama's pact?
-
Tariffs: The quest to bring back 'manly' jobs
Feature Trump's tariffs promise to revive working-class jobs, but today's labor market has moved on
-
Trump's 100-day approval ratings at historic low
Speed Read Americans appear to be wary of Trump's sweeping tariffs and handling of the economy
-
David Hogg challenges Democrats' 'ineffective' old guard
Talking Points He plans to fund primary challenges to Democratic incumbents
-
Trump's war on academic freedom: how Harvard fought back
Talking Point Political pressure on institutions compromises academic independence – and risks damaging America's ability to attract international talent