It is a dark time to be a Democrat in America. If you’ve missed the last few months of news: first, congratulations, and second, Donald Trump and Republicans won the last election. It was not the massive mandate that the White House claims it was, but it was nonetheless a stark rebuke of Biden-era liberalism and Democratic control in Washington.
From the perspective of a liberal like myself, this election was stinging. The first Trump administration was 1,461 days of unnecessary chaos culminating in a violent attempt to overturn the results of a free and fair election.
In contrast stands the Biden administration. To me, the Biden presidency strengthened American relationships internationally and passed transformative domestic legislation. The Biden administration passed four major pieces of legislation: the American Rescue Plan, which dramatically cut child poverty; the Inflation Reduction Act, which I believe is the most significant climate legislation in American history; the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which made historic investments nationwide; and the CHIPS and Science Act, which reignited American manufacturing. These achievements are doubly impressive for passing under minuscule majorities. If any one man deserves credit for their passage, it is then-Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Times have changed.
In the first two months of the second Trump administration, each of these accomplishments, as well as long standing, non-partisan institutions and norms have come under attack.
Democrats, out of power in Washington, have little means of dissent besides the staging of disapproving press conferences. Despite this, Democrats outside Washington have been pushing for more resistance to the bull-in-the-china-shop mentality that the new government has taken towards every aspect of government, including services that are vital to the American people.
Despite the pleas of their voter base, public resistance to Trump’s policies has been rare from Democratic leaders in Washington, which brings me to my point. Current Senate Minority Leader Schumer is a talented politician, and a talented leader in the Senate. If one needs evidence of this, they can look to the margins of victory in each of his reelection campaigns or his legislative record that rivals the most productive in modern American history.
But Chuck Schumer is not the man for this moment.
In a time when Democrats across the country are pleading for any sign that their representatives in Washington have not forgotten their liberal ideals, for any solitary act of resistance to any of the destructive and dangerous initiatives of the administration, Schumer has thrown in the towel.
At midnight on Friday, March 14, government funding was set to expire. Two days earlier, on March 12, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a months-long budget (a “continuing resolution”) which cut funding to programs that vulnerable Americans rely on, undermined rural economic development and delegated funding decisions to Elon Musk’s DOGE. The bill was so odious that it didn’t even get unanimous approval from House Republicans.
When the budget bill moved to the Senate, home of the much-maligned filibuster, the 60 vote threshold most bills facing the Senate must clear became a topic of discussion. With the potential use of the filibuster, Democrats finally had an opportunity to stymie the priorities of their Republican colleagues.
At last, the opportunity for Democrats to stand up to the Trump agenda of slashing their priorities like healthcare expansion, education funding and nutritional assistance for low income mothers, had arrived.
Then, late in the day on March 13, Schumer announced that he would provide the votes to pass the Republican spending plan.
To their credit, Democratic senators from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin — all states that voted for Trump last November — voted against cloture. Some even announced their intentions before Schumer did. They all put their necks on the line. They showed the backbone their voters hoped hadn’t disappeared on the evening of Nov. 5.
It did not matter that the most vulnerable members of his caucus had already taken the far riskier, alternative stance. It did not matter that the voter base of his party supported that alternative stance. It did not matter that Democrats had the power to stop Republicans from passing their agenda unchecked.
Chuck Schumer did not resist because he is not the man for this moment.
I understand that being party leader in the Senate is not an enviable job. You must balance the demands of voters across the country, the electoral interests of your caucus, the values of your constituents back home and your party’s legislative priorities. It is not easy, but it is a job that must be done well. In my opinion, Chuck Schumer has failed at all of those requirements in the two months since the inauguration.
Schumer has been a great leader for Senate Democrats. He accomplished more than anyone thought possible. But even the greats must go.
Thank you, Senator Schumer. America will be grateful for your contributions. The work you have done as leader of the Democrats will make America better for decades to come. But your leadership is no longer what the Democratic Party needs. It is no longer what America needs. You are not the right man for this moment. It is time to pass the torch.
