Urge Senators to Replace Sen. Schumer as Senate Minority Leader

On Thursday, March 14, the US Senate passed a dangerous Republican funding bill, one that was written with no Democratic input, one that gives Trump/Musk a green light to continue their destruction of federal agencies, their gutting of critical public services and their establishment of an authoritarian regime run by and for the benefit of the uber-wealthy. Democrats had only one real point of leverage, and that was to use their numbers to vote in the Senate against allowing debate on the bill to end (i.e., to vote against “cloture”). Many of us were calling our Senators, urging them to stand strong and vote against cloture, assuring them that we would have their backs and support them in that vote even if it were to mean a temporary government shutdown. A shutdown was likely to be temporary; the establishment of an authoritarian regime that thumbs its nose at Congress, the courts, and the law might not be. This was a moment that required a skilled Senate minority leader. But the current leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, showed no leadership. Instead of developing a messaging and action plan around a vote to deny cloture, he put his bet on Mike Johnson not being able to secure votes for passage of the bill in the House. He bet wrong, leaving colleagues flat-footed. At first it seemed that he intended to lead his caucus in a vote to deny cloture (he announced on the Senate floor that the votes for cloture within his caucus weren’t there), but then he pulled a switcheroo, supporting a deal under which Democrats would allow cloture in return for the right to offer amendments that he knew would never pass. When too many people realized that his plan was simply a choreographed standdown, he gave up the charade and announced his own support for cloture. Our nation faces real peril. If our democracy and the rule of law are to survive, it will be because of strong, courageous, and inspirational leaders. Sen. Schumer showed himself to be weak and ineffectual. In a statement calling for Sen. Schumer to step aside as Senate minority leader, Indivisible’s national organization said: “This is a painful decision, the gravity of which we take very seriously. Senator Schumer has contributed to and led many important accomplishments that Indivisible is grateful for. But with our democracy on the line, he let us, the country, and the Democratic Party down. We organize local activists in communities in every state in the country - regular people dedicating themselves to opposing Trumpism and preserving the promise of a functioning democracy. And they deserve a Democratic party, and leadership of that party, who’s willing to fight as hard as they are.”