03.14.25

Democrats’ Disarray on Full Display Over Shutting Down the Government

Leader Schumer Says He’ll Vote to Fund the Government, but Many Senate Democrats Publicly Disagree

AFTER LEADING HIS PARTY TO THE BRINK OF SHUTTING DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, CHUCK SCHUMER SAYS HE’LL VOTE TO KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OPEN, BUT MANY SENATE DEMOCRATS DON’T SEEM READY TO DO THE SAME

  • “Democrats picked a fight they couldn’t win and caved without getting anything in return.” (Punchbowl News AM: Schumer folds and the party explodes – 3/14/25)
  • Before finally caving, Democrat Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) “let this drag out, giving Democrats a false sense of hope that the caucus was actually going to fight.” (Punchbowl News AM: Schumer folds and the party explodes – 3/14/25)
  • “Veteran Democrats privately believed Chuck Schumer’s decision on the shutdown was inevitable. Others were ready for the top Senate Democrat to lead them into their first big battle against President Donald Trump — and instead have been left fuming.” (CNN: Schumer backs down on fight against GOP’s government funding bill as Democrats face reckoning over Trump strategy – 3/13/25)
  • “Prior to Schumer’s remarks, progressive groups were encouraged by the succession of Senate Democrats who had publicly announced opposition to the GOP funding measure. More than a dozen did so Thursday, many of them echoing the language used by activists:” (Politico: Schumer’s shutdown ‘surrender’ sends the left into a rage – 3/13/25)
    • “Liberals including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are spearheading calls to vote against the House proposal.” (The Hill: Schumer clashes with liberal colleagues over House GOP funding bill – 3/14/25)
    • “Under growing pressure from their left flank, several Democratic centrists said Wednesday evening and Thursday that they would vote against the House GOP spending proposal, even though they had earlier warned that the failure to pass it could trigger a devastating government shutdown.” (The Hill: Schumer clashes with liberal colleagues over House GOP funding bill – 3/14/25)
    • “Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), two centrists up for reelection in 2026, announced they would vote to block the House bill, as did Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who as recently as Monday warned that blocking the bill and possibly triggering a shutdown would be a ‘huge risk.’” (The Hill: Schumer clashes with liberal colleagues over House GOP funding bill – 3/14/25)
  • Incredibly, many Senate Democrats are still fighting to shut down the government:
    • “If we pass this continuing resolution for the next half year, we will own what the president does.” – Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
    • “Good morning. I am a firm 100% NO… Senators were not elected to beg Trump for federal resources.” – Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
    • “I said it once and I’ll say it again. I am a HELL NO on cloture and HELL NO on the Republican CR…” – Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)

DEMOCRATS ARE “DEEPLY DIVIDED ON THE PATH AHEAD” AND “A DISCOMBOBULATED MESS”

  • “The Democratic leader’s decision privately disappointed many in his caucus, and stunned his House colleagues across the US Capitol — leaving the party deeply divided on the path ahead at a moment when their base is clamoring for a strong response against Trump and Elon Musk’s actions to radically reshape the federal government.” (CNN: Schumer backs down on fight against GOP’s government funding bill as Democrats face reckoning over Trump strategy – 3/13/25)
  • “Some Democratic senators are ‘furious’ at Schumer for not having a strategy and message to counter the House Republican bill, according to one Democratic Senate aide.” (The Washington Post: Democrats divided on whether to shut down government or vote with GOP – 3/12/25)
  • “Perhaps the clearest sign of the dilemma: Their top two leaders took opposite paths, with Schumer deciding to vote for the GOP plan that top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries has spent a full week bashing.” (CNN: Schumer backs down on fight against GOP’s government funding bill as Democrats face reckoning over Trump strategy – 3/13/25)
  • “[T]op Democrats in Congress struggled to find a cohesive message and strategy that would allow them room to fight without the potential risk of what it would mean if thousands of government workers were suddenly thrust into more uncertainty with a shutdown:” (CNN: Schumer backs down on fight against GOP’s government funding bill as Democrats face reckoning over Trump strategy – 3/13/25)
    • Senate Democrats “spent the last few days — which included three long and contentious lunch meetings — warning each other in private about the grave dangers of forcing a government shutdown. But in front of TV cameras, they were trashing the House GOP CR and insisting they wouldn’t vote for the funding measure.” (Punchbowl News AM: Schumer folds and the party explodes – 3/14/25)
    • “The Democrats’ CR strategy (if you can even call it that) was a discombobulated mess. Clinging to FY25 approps deal after Trump/Johnson killed it. Assuming Johnson can’t pass a CR. Lacking a counteroffer after he does. Threatening to filibuster then caving in 24 hrs empty-handed.” (NBC News’ Sahil Kapur: post on X – 3/13/25)
    • “A deep miscalculation after Trump + Speaker Johnson just demonstrated a few weeks ago they could force Rs to fall in line for a party-line vote.” (Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill: post on X – 3/13/25)

AFTER VOTING TO SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, HOUSE DEMOCRATS AND FAR-LEFT ACTIVISTS ARE “FURIOUS”

  • “House Democrats erupted into apoplexy Thursday night after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would support Republicans' stopgap government funding measure.” (Axios: House Dems go into "complete meltdown" as Schumer folds – 3/13/25)
  • “House Democrats feel like they ‘walked the plank,’ in the words of one member. They voted almost unanimously against the measure, only to watch Senate Democrats seemingly give it the green light.” (Axios: House Dems go into "complete meltdown" as Schumer folds – 3/13/25)
  • “A senior House Democrat said ‘people are furious’ and that some rank-and-file members have floated the idea of angrily marching onto the Senate floor in protest. Others are talking openly about supporting primary challenges to senators who vote for the GOP spending bill.” (Axios: House Dems go into "complete meltdown" as Schumer folds – 3/13/25)
  • “Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said he was ‘extremely disappointed,’ while Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) called it a ‘gut punch.’ Some Democrats attending the yearly Democratic policy retreat here went so far as to privately hope that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) would launch a primary challenge against Schumer…” (Politico: House Democrats stew over Schumer's capitulation on GOP funding bill – 3/13/25)
  • “Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of the liberal grassroots organization Indivisible, quickly dubbed it the ‘Schumer surrender.’ ‘I guess we’ll find out to what extent Schumer is leading the party into irrelevance,’ he said in an interview, adding that his decision ‘tells me maybe he’s lost a step.’” (Politico: Schumer’s shutdown ‘surrender’ sends the left into a rage – 3/13/25)

SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE SOLELY TO BLAME FOR THIS SITUATION AFTER NEGLECTING BASIC GOVERNANCE ALL OF LAST YEAR

  • Senate Democrats have been calling to resume negotiations on appropriations bills they shelved all of last year, “in what seems more like a public relations exercise than a serious political strategy.” (CNN: Trump’s presidency moves into a new phase with a critical test of his power in Congress – 3/10/25)
  • It’s been nearly 250 days since the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its first three FY25 bills on July 11, 2024. (Congressional Research Service: Appropriations Status Table: FY2025 – accessed 3/13/25)
  • Though the Appropriations Committee passed 11 of 12 appropriations bills by the beginning of last August, “none of these bills have been to the floor...” (Punchbowl News AM: The appropriations mess rolls on – 7/31/24; Congressional Research Service: Appropriations Status Table: FY2025 – accessed 3/13/25)
  • The result: “Congress drops the ball on annual spending bills — again.” (Punchbowl News AM: The appropriations mess rolls on – 7/31/24)