OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was criticized by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday for his controversial vote with Republicans last week to prevent a government showdown.
During a press conference in San Francisco, Pelosi stated that she was confident Schumer would be able to lead the Senate’s Democratic caucus moving forward. However, she contended that the Brooklyn Democrat had made too many compromises to Republicans when he suddenly declared that he would vote to move the government funding bill that the GOP had crafted.
“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” Pelosi said. “I think that’s what happened the other day.”
“We could have, in my view, perhaps gotten [Republicans] to agree to a third way,” Pelosi stated, alluding to a desperate plan by congressional Democrats to prolong the current government spending for 30 days while they engage in discussions on a more comprehensive bill.
“They may not have agreed to it, but at least the public would have seen them not agreeing to it — then [Republicans] would have been shutting the government down,” Pelosi argued.
Pelosi pleaded with Senate Democrats hours before last week’s vote to defy Schumer and vote against the six-month spending bill.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America. This false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Pelosi went on to insist that she’s moving on from the shutdown battle.
“I’m concerned about the next time. I’m concerned about the future,” the California Democrat said. “What happened last week was last week. We’re going into the future.”
Promotional events for Schumer’s book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” were supposed to take place this week but were cancelled.
“Due to security concerns, Senator Schumer’s book events are being rescheduled,” Schumer’s spokesperson said, adding that the book is scheduled for release on Tuesday.
The senator had several engagements planned for this week but were cancelled due to “security concerns,” Fox News reported.
As the country faced the possibility of a partial government shutdown, Schumer annoyed some Democrats last week by voting to get past a procedural obstacle and put a Trump-backed government funding measure to a vote.
Although the “bill is very bad,” Schumer stated prior to the vote that “the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse.”
Her critique came after House Minority Leader and New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries refused to answer a question about Schumer staying on as leader in the Senate.
Former Obama administration official Van Jones said on CNN that he has never seen this kind of anger at a fellow Democrat before.
“We can be grumpy. We can be frustrated with each other, there is a volcanic eruption of outrage at Leader Schumer because we want a Mitch McConnell. I remember when Obama had all the cards, Mitch McConnell drove Obama nuts, twisted his pinky, broke his kneecaps, and got stuff done for Republicans when they shouldn’t have gotten an inch, they got miles,” Jones said.
“We have a Senate majority leader who is beloved in this party, but we want somebody who’s gonna stand up to this bully. Stand up to this bully. Do something. And if you shut the government down and it gets a little bit crazy, at least some politics is about the rationality. There’s an emotional need to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk from running over this party. And I think Chuck Schumer has radically misread the room,” Jones continued.
New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also showed her frustration with Schumer when she spoke to CNN host Jake Tapper.
