Chuck Schumer is bruised but not beaten — at least not yet.
Two weeks after the Senate minority leader joined with Republicans to prevent a government shutdown, Democrats are still fuming over how he handled the standoff. But many in the party are conceding that they’re stuck with him for the time being.
With no obvious alternative to Schumer emerging nor any appetite among the vast majority of Senate Democrats for a messy leadership contest, lawmakers are indicating they are falling in behind the New Yorker and hoping for the best as they prepare for upcoming fights. Some frustrated Democratic donors have made the same calculation.
After Schumer enraged his party by voting to advance the Republican stopgap measure, he went into damage-control mode making a flurry of media appearances, pleading his case to lawmakers, and working the phones with liberal groups. Even as a handful of House members and outside progressive activists called for him to step aside, he avoided any defections inside his own caucus. And Schumer’s seeming omnipresence enabled him to run out the clock until another news cycle — this one over the Trump administration’s war plan group chat — began.
“Chuck’s been reaching out to everyone and having conversations with folks, which I appreciate,” said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) on Wednesday. Asked if there were discussions about replacing Schumer as leader, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) added: “Not within the caucus.”
Instead, Schumer is working to convince his members that he understands they need to ramp up their tactics. “Leader Schumer is, in fact, demonstrating the kind of vision and energy that we need right now in a renewed or a stronger way,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), pointing to the closed-door discussions, Democrats’ floor strategy and forthcoming actions from the caucus.
Some Democratic lawmakers, donors and activists warned that Schumer is now under a political microscope, with many in the party closely watching how he handles upcoming battles in Congress over the debt limit, Republicans’ planned domestic policy agenda and the next government funding bill.
Even some members of Schumer’s caucus said he still has work to do to win their confidence. Asked about Schumer’s leadership on Wednesday, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said, “We’re still talking it through.”
“I want to see what the strategy is going forward,” he said. “If I feel like it’s moving in a direction, I can go and I’ll have some greater confidence. But if not, then I’ll certainly make that known.”
Schumer’s vote exposed a broader rift in the party over how to counter President Donald Trump in his second term. The vote prompted a handful of House lawmakers to publicly suggest or outright call for Schumer to step aside. Some liberal groups have piled on with demands for stronger leadership.
“Schumer made a disastrous decision,” said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, adding later that he “hopes” Schumer and Senate Democrats see that the voters want them to fight Republicans. Otherwise, he said, “the voters are going to make them see it if they don’t see it themselves.”
A few weren’t just after Schumer’s leadership role. They were angry enough to call for his seat.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has received private encouragement from Democratic House members, including even those in battleground districts, to mount a primary challenge to Schumer in 2028. But Ocasio-Cortez is currently noncommittal about moving forward.
“My focus is our strength in this particular moment and what we can do right now to be the party that stands up for working people and protects against Republican cuts,” she said in a brief interview. Asked whether Schumer should remain leader, she said the issue was “less about any one specific person.”
But the decision by some House Democrats to step into a Senate leadership discussion has rankled some senators, including former House members. Lujan, asked about the criticism from his former colleagues, quipped: “I’m not aware of my colleagues voting for the leader of the Senate.”
Inside the Senate, Schumer has taken steps to acknowledge the anger and disappointment over the spending-bill surrender. Kaine said on Wednesday that Schumer “was very candid and humble” in addressing his colleagues at a private lunch Tuesday “and then focused on the next steps.” Unlike the lunches in the days leading up to the government funding vote, where senators could be heard yelling, moments of applause were overheard during their first meeting after the break.
The result, he said, was a “very productive discussion” about “‘what do we need to do different?’”
Schumer’s spokesperson did not provide a comment for this article.
Senate Democrats acknowledge that they haven’t yet fully landed on what they believe eluded them just two weeks ago — a strategy that both unifies them and gives them a foothold for fighting despite their limited leverage. But they are making clear that their public focus, at least, is on the Trump administration and gearing up for looming battles over the debt ceiling and a sweeping GOP tax plan.
“My top priority is ending the lawlessness of the Trump administration. My next priority is ending the lawlessness of the Trump administration. … I think you get my drift,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), when asked about questions on Schumer’s leadership.
Outside of Congress, major Democratic donors are also furious over Schumer’s handling of the GOP funding bill and his leadership in general. But without a clear successor, people close to the fundraisers said there isn’t much they can do. The next Senate leadership contest will come after the 2026 election, when they could already have a vacancy at the top of their ranks if Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) retires. Schumer, if he runs again for the top spot, would only need a simple majority of his caucus to win.
Donors “think he’s ineffective, but the question is, who else is going to step in? And that’s where things get stuck,” said one Democratic donor adviser, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
“No senator is presenting themselves as an alternative, so that’s a major barrier to any donor momentum to pressure him out,” a second Democratic donor adviser said. “If somebody signaled to donors they wanted to be that alternative, I do think there would be real movement around that. But it hasn’t come yet.”
A third Democratic donor adviser said fundraisers think Schumer is “deeply pathetic,” but “I do think he has squashed a lot of the specific rumblings” about a new leader.
House lawmakers who publicly and privately fumed at Schumer after he and a group of Senate Democrats voted to advance the GOP funding bill heard an earful from their constituents back home last week who have demanded more forceful, public resistance to Trump.
Even swing-district Democrats who might face pressure to work with Trump acknowledged that their voters wanted them to push back. All but one House Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), had voted against the funding bill.
Constituents “want to see more from us,” said Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), who could mount a Senate bid to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). “They know there are other battles to be waged, and they’re really interested in us continuing to dig in and stand up for what counts.”
And others dismissed the speculation over Schumer’s future while they focused on the current fights against Trump.
“So this is not about, no offense, like the inside baseball political leadership. Nobody gives a fuck. They want to know, are we fighting for them? Are we going to protect them? Are we going to stop them?” said Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.).
