Democratic Party Fractures In Government Shutdown Fight, With Anger Running High

The Democratic Party was fracturing Friday as a torrent of frustration and anger was unleashed at Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer , who faced what they saw as an awful choice: shut the government down or consent to a Republican funding bill that allows President Donald Trump to continue slashing the federal government.

After Schumer announced that he would reluctantly support the bill, he bore the brunt of that anger, including a protest at his office, calls from progressives that he be primaried in 2028 and suggestions that the Democratic Party would soon be looking for new leaders.

Nine other members of the Democratic Caucus - a contingent of mostly swing-state and retiring senators - eventually joined Schumer in voting to advance the Republican funding proposal, providing crucial support to bring it to a final vote. It passed late Friday with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Angus King of Maine voting with Republicans in favor.

Since their election losses, Democrats have been hunkered against a barrage of Trump's early actions in office, locked out of legislative power and left searching for a plan to regain political momentum. But as Schumer let pass one of the rare moments when the party might regain leverage in Washington, the Democratic Party erupted in a moment of anger that had been building for months.

Many in the party felt the New York Democrat was not showing sufficient fight , arguing that a government shutdown would have forced Trump and Republicans to the negotiating table. Yet for Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since Trump took office in 2016, the choice ultimately came down to preventing a shutdown that he believed would only hand Trump more power and leave his party with the blame for disruptions to government services.