Presented with a Lose-Lose, Schumer and Democrats Lost by Doing the Right Thing

Democrats need new ideas and a new face

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer put himself and his caucus in a lose-lose situation on the bill to keep the federal government operating until September, the end of the current fiscal year.

Shutting down the government is an extreme position and an abdication of the most fundamental function of Congress. Schumer is right that shutting government would be the gasoline on the fire to burn down government that President Trump has started. Shutting government would give Trump and Elon Musk everything they need to bypass the courts and eliminate thousands of government positions. While law defines the “essential employees” who would continue to work through a shutdown, the vast majority of workers would be left on the outside looking in.

Republicans - especially the conservative House Freedom Caucus - could well leave the government closed for weeks (or longer) while Democrats take the blame. In the past, furloughed government workers have recovered their back pay once government funding is restored. It seems likely that in today’s political world, Republicans would default on the back pay hoping the government workers would see that as the final straw and leave public service. A reduction in force that bypasses courts, laws and contracts. What more could Republicans want?

Ultimately, the pressure on Democrats to concede to the very bad Republican budget would force them to pass the same bill that passed today. And it is a very bad bill not just with misplaced priorities but with congressional Republicans turning over to Trump even more of their constitutional responsibility to direct federal spending.

The reality, though, is that Democrats already had lost the fight before the final vote. They could wave the white flag today or in two weeks or in two months. The Republican bill on the table is the same one the Democrats eventually would have to swallow.

Schumer’s failures didn’t start over the past few days when he failed to get the GOP to agree to a 30-day status quo bill, one that would keep funding levels at their current levels. Schumer and Democrats lost this battle months ago when their naïveté blinded them to the extreme policies of Trump and Republicans. Democrats didn’t believe Republicans really would do what they kept saying they would do - slash and burn government, not to make it better or more effective, but solely to make it cost less, creating space for the coming tax cuts for the wealthy.

Had Democrats started even in January to reach out to Americans to predict today’s chaos, to offer better solutions and to provide explanations of how Republican cuts will hit working class pocketbooks, they would have a much stronger hand today. Polls are showing that public opposition to Trump, Musk, Republicans and most of their policies is growing. Some voters are expressing buyers’ remorse, regretting their 2024 votes for Trump.

Democrats, though, aren’t the beneficiaries of Trump’s decline. Most Americans see Democrats as the party of big government, small ideas and narrow and unpopular interest groups. That widely-held perception is why Schumer rightly recognized that is his party became the face of a government shutdown, the public perception and political fallout would be disastrous.

Democrats are left deeply divided over Schumer’s decision to give Republicans their win. They still are without coherent and compelling messages going forward. Schumer isn’t going to unite the Democrats. He is a terrible public face for the party - an aging, New York liberal. Schumer’s strength, though, is what made Nancy Pelosi one of the most effective Speakers of the House in history - she had the ability to keep a fractious caucus together on tough votes. Schumer has been extremely effective in getting the votes to pass President Biden’s aggressive agenda in 2021-22.

After flipping on the budget vote, Schumer faces questions from his own party whether he can both define and unite Democratic opposition to an extreme and destructive Republican agenda. The questions are legitimate.

Schumer did the right thing for his party and, more importantly, the country, by not shutting down government. It may have come at a personal political cost. If Schumer can’t unite Democrats in creating and effectively promulgating an opposition agenda that resonates with voters, he needs to take his bow and move on.

His model and incentive should be Joe Biden. Kamala Harris may not have won the election (and may not even have been the Democratic candidate) had Biden bowed out in summer of 2023. But Biden’s insistence on staying in the race until his disastrous debate performance put Harris and Democrats in a very deep hole. Schumer’s handling of the continuing resolution isn’t on par with Biden’s debate debacle, but the parallels are unavoidable. Like Biden, Schumer has served his party and country well. Now, for the sake of the country - for the sake of countering Donald Trump - it’s time for a change.

Republicans won this round because Democrats didn’t believe the GOP would go as far overboard as it has. Democrats need a leader who understands that Republicans can and will go even farther. They need a leader who can rally not just his or her party but the country.