The chorus of voices from within the Democratic Party for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to be replaced as the top Democrat in the upper chamber of Congress is growing louder.
Politico reported Wednesday that Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) — a second-term congressman that the outlet described as "even-keeled" — recently delivered an ultimatum to Schumer during a town hall meeting. In reference to Schumer's recent decision to vote for the House Republican-approved spending bill (along with nine other Senate Democrats), Ivey told the outlet: "Maybe he needs to go."
“If he can get himself together and come — you know, get right on this vote and we get another shot at it, okay,” Ivey said. “But if he’s going to do the same thing again when this bill comes up six months from now, we can’t afford that.”
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Ivey expressed his support for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who marshaled every member of the House Democratic Caucus save for one to vote against the bill. However, the Maryland Democrat doubted that Schumer would still have the support of his caucus if he failed to put up enough of a fight this fall, when current government funding levels are scheduled to expire.
“We’ve got a limited number of shots at being able to fight back against the Trump administration and what they’re doing,” Ivey said. “We can’t afford to miss the moment again.”
Ivey admitted that the Democratic base wants a more "fire and brimstone" approach to fighting back against Trump, and he pointed to examples like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) as leaders in the effort to stand up to the administration. In addition to Ivey, other Democrats have suggested that Schumer be replaced as minority leader. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said "yes" during a recent town hall, when a constituent asked if she felt that the longtime New York senator should "retire or step down."
Schumer has repeatedly defended his vote to keep the government open despite pushback from within the party. The Senate minority leader has argued that a government shutdown would have exacerbated harm to both federal workers who would be laid off during a shutdown, and to Americans who depend on the work done by federal agencies that would be indefinitely shuttered if he allowed a shutdown to happen on his watch. But Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz pushed back on that narrative recently, saying that harm was already being done and that Schumer gave up critical "leverage" by backing the House GOP bill.
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Click here to read Politico's full article.