Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., refused to step down from his leadership position as Democrats’ inscribers worsened while struggling to agree to messaging to challenge President Donald Trump.
“Look, I’m not resigning,” Schumer said in a pre-recorded interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “When I voted against the government shutdown, I knew there was a lot of controversy.”
Schumer defended why he chose to vote in favor of the ongoing resolution proposed by Republicans to avoid government shutdown despite widespread opposition from the bill by Democrats.
“The CR was certainly bad. We know the continuous resolution, but the shutdown will be 15 or 20 times worse. Under the shutdown, the executive division has the only power to decide “essential.” And they can decide without court supervision.
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Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer leaves a Democrat Caucus lunch at the US Capitol on March 13, 2025 (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Without evidence, Schumer argued that the offices of Elon Musk of the Government Efficiency Office and Russell Vault, executive director of the Budget, will significantly cut Snap, or food stamps and mass transport funds, reducing Medicaid by 20, 30, 50 and 80%.
“They’ll carry on the federal government,” Schumer said. “Their goal is to remove the federal government, so they can get more taxes on tax cuts to billionaires classes.
“There’s no off-ramp,” he added. “Who decides how long the closure will last? Only the evil people at the top of the Trump administration’s executive branch.”
Schumer told NBC that a Republican senator near the Doge team would remain closed for “a year between six months, nine months, and one year before everyone is bored and quit.”
“And there’s no way to stop it,” Schumer said. “So I thought it would be so devastating to the Republic and would anger a lot of people.”
Playing a key role in urging Joe Biden to finish the 2024 race, Schumer denied that he was acting in resisting party calls to resign as leader. Democrats are increasingly criticizing Schumer for their intrusion with House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) in support of the ongoing resolution, and Schumer has rejected a report of potential major challenges by progressive “squad” member Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y. for his Senate seat.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will speak at a press conference held at Capitol, Washington on March 6, 2025 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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“It was a vote of principles. Sometimes when you are a leader, you have to do something to avoid the real danger that might go down the curve, and I have to do it from pure belief in what the leader should do and what was right for America and my party,” Schumer said.
“And our caucus is united in fighting Donald Trump at every stage,” Schumer argued. “Our goal is to make Donald Trump the fastest glitter duck in modern history by showing how bad his policies are.”
“He represents the oligarchs. He hurts the average people in every way, like I said,” Schumer added, noting that Democrats are organising around surveillance hearings, courts and districts to challenge Trump’s agenda.
“I believe by 2026, Republicans in the House and Senate will feel like they’re mice on the sinking ships because we’ve been following Trump and all the horrible things he’s doing,” Schumer said.
Forrmer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Democrats have been granting the ongoing resolution and gaining nothing. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Former House Speaker, D-Calif. Nancy Pelosi, claimed that Democrats refused to recognize Republicans in Schumer.
“At the end of the day, what we got is avoiding the fear of a shutdown,” he replied.
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He added that Democrats “have no leverage points.” “When you’re on that political mountain, the higher you climb, the more the wind blows,” Schumer said. “The only way you can stop being blown off the mountain is your internal gyroscope… I had to do the right thing for our country and our party.”
Daniel Wallace is a news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and to X:@danimwallace.
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