Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he will support the Republican-led stopgap funding bill to prevent a government shutdown, sparking outrage among House Democrats.
Schumer, who initially opposed the measure, argued that shutting down the government would be a worse outcome.
His remarks, first delivered in a closed-door meeting with fellow Senate Democrats and later repeated on the Senate floor, made it clear that enough Democrats in the upper chamber would break ranks and vote with Republicans to advance the bill past the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
In his speech, Schumer painted the decision as an unavoidable one, claiming that shutting down the government would hand Donald Trump and his allies an opportunity to wreak havoc.
“It’s not really a decision. It’s a Hobson’s choice,” Schumer said. “Either proceed with the bill before us or risk Donald Trump throwing America into the chaos of a shutdown.” He doubled down on this argument by adding that no one wanted a shutdown more than Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
The move enraged House Democrats, who had spent days rallying against the measure and nearly unanimously voted against it. After learning of Schumer’s reversal, some House Democrats erupted in anger, with text chains described as a “complete meltdown.” One lawmaker called Schumer’s move an outright betrayal, while others openly discussed supporting primary challenges against him and any Senate Democrats who backed the bill.
“There were many battleground Dems in the House … that were uncomfortable, semi-uncomfortable, with the vote,” one House Democrat admitted. “The Senate left the House at the altar.”
During the House Democrats’ retreat on Thursday, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries praised his caucus for standing firm against the bill, receiving a standing ovation for their resistance. But when he mentioned Senate Democrats, the room turned hostile, with members loudly booing.
Adding fuel to the fire, some House members even suggested backing a primary challenge against Schumer himself. Names like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Dan Goldman have already been floated as potential challengers, and at least one Democrat vowed to write a check that night in support of an effort to replace Schumer.
Despite the outrage from House Democrats, the reality remains that Senate Democrats never coalesced around a unified strategy to oppose the bill. After Speaker Mike Johnson successfully pushed the seven-month GOP funding measure through the House without Democratic support, Senate Democrats were left scrambling for a response.
Schumer’s decision to fold now clears the path for the bill’s passage, ensuring the government remains open while leaving furious House Democrats in the dust.
Republican Senate Minority Leader John Thune has scheduled a Friday vote to advance the measure, with at least eight Senate Democrats expected to help push it over the procedural hurdle. While some Senate Democrats have signaled they may still oppose the final passage of the bill, Schumer’s remarks all but guarantee its survival.
For Schumer, the move may have been about political damage control. He warned his fellow Democrats that once a shutdown began, there would be no way to contain the fallout, arguing that it would give Trump and his allies too much power. But for his colleagues in the House, his sudden about-face was seen as nothing short of a capitulation.
With tensions high and intra-party divisions widening, the question now is whether Schumer’s gamble will pay off—or if he’s just made himself the next target of the Democratic Party’s internal war.