Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has Senator Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) worried over his recent threats. While Schumer caved to the GOP during Trump’s first continuing resolution, he does not appear ready to do the same this time around.
Thune is now warning everyone that Schumer may allow the government to shut down rather than allowing the GOP to pass through another partisan spending bill.
Generally speaking, it is not the party in charge that takes the blame during a government shutdown.
Schumer knew that after Trump took office, so he drummed up enough support among Democrats to allow the GOP to pass a procedural vote so the CR could be passed by a simple majority.
Schumer, during a Senate floor speech, stated, “There are no winners in a government shutdown. It’s not really a decision; it’s a Hobson’s choice: Either proceed with the bill before us or risk Donald Trump throwing America into the chaos of a shutdown.
“For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option. It is not a clean CR [continuing resolution]. It is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address far too many of this country’s needs. But I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option. I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.”
As is typical of a politician, you cannot trust a word they say, as their minds change with the wind.
Schumer proved that to be true as the GOP was about to pass a rescissions package, stating, “Republicans’ passage of this purely partisan proposal would be an affront to the bipartisan appropriations process.”
He later added, “This is beyond bait and switch — it is a bait and poison-to-kill. Senate Republicans must reject this partisan path and instead work with Democrats on a bipartisan appropriations process.”
Schumer then made it quite clear that if the GOP did not change its tactics, the CR would not be permitted to pass by a majority vote when it hit the floor, as he was now supporting a government shutdown for leverage against the GOP.
With the CR soon to be on the docket, Thune is now worried that Schumer will stiffen up this time and shut down the government.
He stated, “I think he [Schumer] probably thinks that it’s beneficial to their political base, the far left of the Democrat Party, and you can kind of see what’s happening up there in New York politics.”
He later added, “This is a party struggling for an identity. This is a party that’s completely out of step with the mainstream of this country.”
Thune’s assessment of the Democrat Party is dead on, as there is no consistent leadership calling the shots right now. When you add in the recent primary win of Zohran Mamdani in New York City, this party has some really tough decisions to make moving forward. Do they lunge ever further to the left and risk losing moderates? If they do, they are likely to lose even more support than they already have, opening the door to the GOP, against all odds, holding the House in 2026.