The Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer has found himself in a particularly not too comfortable position.
President Donald Trump was singing his praises. And former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other influential Democrats were expressing their dismay with him – or worse.
This was Schumer’s fate the day after he decided to back a Republican-crafted measure to avert a possible US government shutdown this weekend.
Later, he followed through on his promise, voting with nine other Democrats and all but one Republican to overcome the key procedural hurdle that – if Democrats had stuck together in opposition – would have prevented the funding bill from coming to a final vote.
The Senate bill, which passed that final vote shortly after, contained a number of provisions that angered liberals. These included cuts to non-military programmes, increased spending on border security, limits on how Congress can rescind Trump’s tariffs and draconian restrictions on Washington DC’s budget.
Schumer acknowledged all of this, but said he was backing the bill because a shutdown, which would allow the president to determine what government services and employees to suspend, would be worse.
“I believe it is the best way to minimise the harm that the Trump administration will do to the American people,” he said on Friday. “Allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via government shutdown is a far worse option.”
It didn’t take long after Schumer’s announcement for Democratic second guessing – and straight-up outrage – to ensue.
“Chuck Schumer is unwilling and unable to meet the moment,” the Democratic group Pass the Torch, which led calls for Joe Biden to end his re-election bid last summer, said in a statement.
Pelosi, who wields considerable influence among House Democrats despite having stepped down from her leadership position, decried what she said was a “false choice” between a shutdown and accepting the Republican measure.
“We must fight back in a better way,” she said, suggesting a short-term funding extension and new bipartisan negotiations. She called the Republican bill a “blank cheque that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America”.
