WASHINGTON – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he’s not stepping down from his Democratic leadership role amid blowback from inside his party over voting to help President Donald Trump and Republicans avoid a government shutdown.
“I’m the best leader for the Senate,” Schumer told “CBS Mornings,” one in a series of interviews where the 74-year-old New York Democrat defended his political chops and recent support for the law Trump signed on Saturday to keep the U.S. government funded and operating for the next six months.
A government shutdown, which loomed if Congress couldn’t find the votes for the spending legislation, “would have been the greatest disaster,” Schumer added.
More: Government shutdown averted as Democrats help Senate approve GOP spending bill
Schumer’s remarks come after he has faced intense backlash from Democrats over his vote on Friday for the spending bill. Some House Democrats and New York politicos have urged New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to mount a primary challenge against Schumer when he’s up for a sixth term in 2028. Protesters rallied outside Schumer’s offices and his house in Brooklyn. A grassroots Democratic group that pushed for former President Joe Biden to leave the 2024 presidential race called for Schumer to step down as minority leader.
The senator also postponed multiple East Coast events scheduled for this week where he was set to promote his new book due to “security concerns” from protests.
More: Democratic anger boils over as Schumer, 9 other Dem senators vote to avoid shutdown
Tim Walz on Schumer: ‘We gave up our leverage’
In an episode of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast released on Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took issue with Schumer’s vote and how the party could have used the moment to better fight Republicans and Trump.
“My opinion on this is I believe that Chuck 100 percent believes that he made a decision that reduced the pain and the risk to Americans,” said Walz, the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential nominee. “I see it now that we’re in a point where I think we’re in a new world. That pain is coming anyway…And I think we gave up our leverage.”
More: Tim Walz open to 2028 presidential run: ‘I would certainly consider that’
Faced with the prospect that they could be blamed for helping the government shut down, nine Democrats ultimately joined Schumer to vote with Republicans and get the bill across the finish line in the Senate. Walz, who has said recently he’s open to running for president in 2028, argued that any fallout from the the legislation will still be put on his party.
“To the American public who doesn’t do this for a living and is out doing their job, they said, ‘well, they passed this budget and they agreed with Donald Trump,’ and now we all own that,’” Walz said. “I think you should have made Donald Trump justify why things were getting so bad.”
