The Democratic Party was fracturing on Friday as a torrent of frustration and anger was unleashed at the Democrats du Senate, led by the Senator.Chuck Schumerwho faced what they saw as a horrible choice:graze the governmentOr consent to a republican financing bill which allows President Donald Trump to continue to reduce the federal government.
AfterSchumer announcedThat he would reluctantly support the bill, he brought the weight of this anger, including a demonstration at his office, calls for progressives that he is essential in 2028 and suggests that the Democratic Party would soon seek new leaders.
Nine other members of the Democratic Caucus – a contingent of senators mainly in the Swing and retired state – finally joined Schumer to vote to advance the republican financing proposal, providing crucial support to bring it to a final vote. It passed late Friday with meaning. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Angus King of Maine voted with the Republicans in favor.
Since their electoral losses, the Democrats have been scrambled against a dam in the first actions of Trump in office, locked up from the legislative power and left the search for a plan to resume political momentum. But while Schumer has let one of the rare moments spend when the party could resume the lever effect in Washington, the Democratic Party broke out in a moment of anger that has been built for months.
Many in the party felt that the New York Democrat wasDo not show a sufficient fightArguing that a government closure would have forced Trump and the Republicans at the negotiating table. However, for Schumer, who managed the Democrats of the Senate since Trump took office in 2016, the choice finally came to prevent a closure which, according to him, would only give Trump more power and leave his party with the blame for the disturbances of government services.
“A closure would allow Doge to go to overdrive,” warned Schumer in the floor of the Senate on Friday, referring to the effort of the Ministry of Elon Musk -led Government.
Schumer voted not on the final vote for the financing bill, which only needed a simple majority to pass. Nevertheless, the Democrats of the Chamber published a flow of declarations of anger and publications on social networks intended for Schumer.
The Troy Carter Democratic representative of Louisiana shared a photo of Trump and Schumer engaged in a conversation with the legend: “An image is worth a thousand words!”
Even in the Senate, almost no democrat was expressed to support Schumer’s strategy on Friday. It was a remarkable turn for the longtime democrat chief, leaving him practically alone.
The speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, her longtime ally and a partner in the financing of the fighting of the past, said in a statement: “Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice that some buy instead of fighting is unacceptable. »»
Pelosi added that senators should listen to women who direct the credits for the Democrats, the Rosa Delauro representative of Connecticut and Senator Patty Murray from Washington. They had proposed a 30 -day stopgap plan instead of theRepublican proposal which provides fundinguntil September. The republican bill will reduce $ 13 billion in non -defensive expenses of the levels of the budget year by 2024 and increase the defense expenses by $ 6 billion.
While the Democrats of the Chamber, who almost all voted against the bill earlier this week, concluded a retirement in northern Virginia on Friday, they also called their colleagues in the Senate to show more fight. The Democratic Directorate of the Chamber rushed to the Capitol to hold a press conference and urge senators to reject the bill.
“We don’t want to close the government. But we are not afraid of a test of force in the financing of the government, “said Jeffries.
He also repeatedly refused to answer questions to find out if he trusted Schumer.
Other Democrats, such as the governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear, who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028 and also visited democratic retirement, called for a broader movement. He mentioned the recent 60th anniversary of the peaceful demonstrations of civil rights in Selma, Alabama, and argued that the Democrats should find “collective courage”.
“When these individuals walked, there was no voice,” said Beshear. “There was a collective courage of this group which changed the world. This day opened the eyes of the country to what was really going on.”
Some were ready to start walking.
“We are ready to get out of this building and return to the Capitol at any time and prevent the government from closing,” said Texas Greg Casar, president of the Progressive Caucus of the Congress.
“Now is the time for the Democrats to trace a line in the stand and to say that we are very firmly standing on the side of the working class and against the ultra-rich who are trying to corrupt our government for themselves,” he added.
Meanwhile, some of the country’s most influential progressive groups have warned of the serious political consequences for the Democrats of the Senate and predicted a fierce reaction when the members of the Congress return home next week.
Ezra Levin, an indivisible co-founder, who organized hundreds of demonstrations across the country, said nearly 8 group activists support the main challenges against “the Senate DEMS which cellard the GOP bill”.
He wrote on social networks that the vast majority of these democratic activists planned to express their anger to town halls or other public events next week. Moveon, another progressive group which claims that nearly 10 million members nationwide, predicted that its activists would also demand responses from Democratic leaders in the coming days
“Open the way to Donald Trump and Elon Musk to prohibit social security, Medicare and Medicaid is unacceptable. It is time for Democrats to fight and stop acting as if it was as usual, “said Joel Payne, spokesperson for Moveon.
The Democrats of the Senate were also not willing to speak to defend Schumer’s decision. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat in Georgia, even suggested that the party should seek new leaders in the coming years.
“I think it comes ’26, ’28, we will get a new leadership,” he said. Later, his office said Warnock answered the large -scale question.
However, above all, the senators simply deplored that they were trapped by a republican party which found a new sense of unity under Trump. For years, the House Republicans have not been able to bring together the votes for the financing of the government, forcing them to bipartite negotiations. This time,They succeededThe bill on parties of the parties and left Washington.
“We are stuck with two bad choices presented by a unified republican front,” said Senator Mark Warner, a democrat in Virginia.
He voted against the bill, but said about Schumer’s decision: “These are difficult and difficult calls.”
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
