‘schumer Is No Longer Effective’: Dems Outraged Over Shutdown Deal

Congressional Democrats are livid after a handful of their Senate colleagues voted Sunday to advance the House-passed stopgap and end the government shutdown.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called it a mistake. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called it “a very bad night.” And Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Ca.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of being ineffective and called for his removal.

“If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Khanna said in a post on X following the vote.

After 40 days of stalemate, eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus voted to advance the bill Sunday night, though notably none of the eight are up for reelection in 2026. But it’s Schumer — who voted no Sunday — who is now facing questions about his ability to lead the caucus.

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Jacky Rosen, John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan and Tim Kaine, along with independent Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, all voted to advance the measure on Sunday and set the table to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The House could take up the spending compromise later this week. House Democratic leadership has signaled they’ll oppose the legislation, though purple-district lawmakers could face pressure to vote for it. House Democrats are expected to hold a virtual caucus meeting Monday afternoon to discuss their way forward.

“Tonight is another example of why we need new leadership,” Moulton said in a post on X. “If @ChuckSchumer were an effective leader, he would have united his caucus to vote ‘No’ tonight and hold the line on healthcare. Maybe now @EdMarkey will finally join me in pledging not to vote for Schumer?”

Moulton is running for Senate in Massachusetts against Sen. Ed Markey next year.

Schumer on Sunday vowed to “keep fighting.” He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats had repeatedly voted against the stopgap bill, arguing it did not address the Affordable Care Act subsidies that were set to expire at the end of the year.

But the pressure on lawmakers to reopen the government had grown over the last few weeks: millions were facing the loss of food assistance; thousands of flights were being canceled and delayed; and federal employees were going without pay.

As part of the deal on Sunday, Democrats have a commitment to rehire government workers fired at the start of the funding lapse and the promise of a Senate floor vote in December on legislation to extend the expiring ACA tax credits.

“I understand my colleagues' desire to fund the government,” Murphy said, vowing to continue fighting. “What Trump has put people through these last few weeks is abhorrent. Of course I want to end the shutdown too. But not at any cost.”

DNC Chair Ken Martin also implicitly denounced the Democrats who struck the deal, calling it a “betrayal of the American people” — but he mainly cast blame on President Donald Trump and Republicans.

“As this vote moves to the House, I stand with Democratic leadership as they refuse to rubber stamp the full-scale Republican assault on Americans’ health care and I am proud of the majority of Senate Democrats who opposed this vote,” Martin said in a statement. “The voters will never forget the day Trump turned his back on them so he could focus on building his gilded ballroom.”