1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I am a longtime Democratic voter very concerned about the future of the party. I have appreciated your past service to our state, but I am extremely disappointed in the way you and your 9 other Senate colleagues voted for the Continuing Resolution vote on Friday 3/14. I understand that there was a choice to be made between two bad decisions. However, it was highly harmful and unprofessional of Senate leadership to have promised the American people AND your own House colleagues that Senate Democrats would hold the line by voting NO on the CR, only to make a U-turn at the last minute. When Senator Schumer moved towards such a disastrous decision, you should not have aided and abetted it. Your House colleagues, including representatives from narrowly won swing districts, undertook great risk in voting No on the CR and did so with the understanding that the Senate would stick to the same plan. By stabbing them in the back at the last minute, you have endangered future House elections and also made the news headlines focus on what Dems were doing instead of letting the GOP own the issue. It is clear you have lost the trust of your Congressional Dem colleagues as well as of the American people. I believe you owe both your House colleagues and your constituents an apology. Additionally, Senator Schumer’s leadership is an unhelpful source of division and distraction. I urge you to support a vote for a new Minority Leader ASAP so the party can heal and move on more effectively. If you are unable to apologize or mend the bridges you have burned, do not be surprised if your voters turn their energy and anger towards ousting you in the next primary.