Congress

Chuck Schumer’s critics are praising how he’s handled the shutdown. For now.

Published

9 months ago

October 9, 2025

Chuck Schumer ended the last shutdown standoff as a villain to Democrats outraged at his decision to surrender to Republicans. This time, the Senate minority leader has heeded the party base, sparking a showdown that has kept government agencies closed for eight days and counting.

So far, his former critics are impressed. But that doesn’t mean they trust him.

A Blue Light News survey of lawmakers and activists found Schumer has exceeded their low expectations heading into the current shutdown, but they’re still watching his every move closely amid persistent doubts that Senate Democrats will hold the line against the GOP.

“He hasn’t surrendered yet,” said Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin, who called on Schumer to step down in March. “I call that progress, and we’re cheering him on now.”

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), who said in March “it may be time” for Schumer to step aside, is now pleased with the top Senate leader’s coordination with top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries — at least “at this point.”

“I think it looks great right now,” Ivey said, adding that the collaboration between the two leaders was “moving things in the right direction for both the House and the Senate Democrats.”

The guardedly positive reviews for Schumer’s leadership come as the shutdown fight enters a politically perilous new phase. Real-world impacts of the funding lapse are likely to mount in the coming days, with most federal workers set to miss a paycheck Friday and active-duty troops next Wednesday.

Air travel has been sporadically affected due to shortages in air traffic controllers, and Smithsonian museums are set to close later this week, to name a few of the mounting consequences. All but three Senate Democrats voted Wednesday for the sixth timeagainst a House-passed bill that would reopen the government.

Senior Republicans have put Schumer at the center of their shutdown blame game, asserting that it’s his fear of the Democratic base — and specifically, a possible 2028 primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — that is prolonging the impasse.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise accused Schumer Wednesday of “throwing a tantrum”, while Speaker Mike Johnson said the New York Democrat was engaged in “desperate attempts to rehabilitate his own image” by bowing to “the Marxist flank of their party.”

“They’re coming for him,” Johnson said.

There’s some truth to those charges. One House Democrat, granted anonymity to candidly discuss the shutdown dynamics, said they would publicly call for Schumer to give up his leadership post if he folds now.

An aide to a senior House Democrat agreed that the dam could break should that happen, saying a significant number of lawmakers would be inclined to push for Schumer’s ouster.

Back in March, House Democrats united against the GOP spending bill. In the Senate, however, Democrats were divided on how to proceed on legislation that had no guardrails to prevent the White House from clawing back congressionally approved spending.

As the deadline approached to avoid a funding lapse, Schumer capitulated, saying he feared a shutdown could allow President Donald Trump to unleash more havoc on federal agencies and workers. He and nine other Democrats voted to advance the Republican bill.

That prompted a handful of House Democrats to publicly call for Schumer to step aside as leader, with some even mulling whether to back a primary challenger against him. Underscoring the House frustrations, Jeffries conspicuously sidestepped questions about Schumer’s leadership at a news conference.

Now Schumer and Jeffries are in much closer coordination, arguing in lockstep that Trump is dead set on unleashing havoc, shutdown or not. They’re also saying it is imperative for Republicans to address health care as a part of any government funding package — specifically by extending enhanced health insurance subsidies that will expire on Dec. 31 unless Congress acts.

Asked Wednesday whether he was acting out of fear of his party’s left flank, Schumer insisted to reporters that was not the case.

“The bottom line is very simple: We’re fighting for the American people,” he said. “Fifty-five percent of Trump voters, hardly a flank in our party, want [the subsidies extended]. That’s why we’re doing it. We believe that’s our job. The American people are crying out for help.”

Still, there are some divides between the two leaders. Jeffries has noticeably staked out tougher demands and a harsher tone in the shutdown fight than Schumer — arguing, for instance, that any deal on the health subsidy extension needs to be written into “ironclad” legislation. Democrats in both chambers are also demanding an end to “rescissions,” or Trump administration attempts to revoke funding for programs previously enacted by Congress.

Schumer, meanwhile, has resisted drawing red lines as many of his members signal they’d be willing to open up the government for something less than a final enacted health care deal. “I’m not going to negotiate in public,” he said Wednesday. “We have to do something. We have to extend these credits.”

That split between the two leaders has made some of Schumer’s critics distrustful, with many keeping a close eye on the thus-far-infomal bipartisan talks involving some of the Senate Democrats who voted to advance the GOP bill in March.

Wary progressives believe those senators — perhaps with Schumer’s blessing — will agree to reopen the government in exchange for no more than a verbal assurance to continue negotiating an extension to the subsidies that Republicans could renege on later.

“A handshake agreement is capitulation,” Levin said. “Health care and rescission language is the demand, and it’s broadly popular. No reason to cave for less.”

Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) told reporters last week, “The American people cannot live on promises.”

For now, however, Democrats are reveling in moments of GOP disunity this week exposed by splits on handling the expiring insurance subsidies as well as the Trump administration’s escalating threats against federal employees, including mass firings or the withholding of back pay for furloughed workers. That has only hardened Democrats’ resolve to continue the shutdown.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who broke with Schumer on the March vote and called on Democrats at that time to “stand up and take some risks,” said this week that he has been pleased by the new tone set at the top.

“A lot of people wondered whether we would be bullied again, and we have not been,” he said. “So I think Sen. Schumer understands the gravity of this moment.”

“The Senate is doing exactly what we need them to do,” added purple-district Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.).

But Rep. Jimmy Gomez, another California Democrat, said he was content to watch Schumer manage the politics of his own chamber, saying those threatening to oust him as leader were “just all posturing.”

“It’s easy for us to say that,” he said. “If their own delegation starts turning on them — New York — that’s a different story.”

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Congress

Rubio, Witkoff to brief Congress on Iran

Published

3 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Top deputies of President Donald Trump will brief Congress on the Iran peace talks in a Monday conference call — the first time administration officials have addressed a broad group of lawmakers since Trump signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Tehran earlier this month.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, will lead the briefing for all House and Senate members at 4 p.m., according to seven people granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Republicans and Democrats have called for more transparency about the 14-point agreement inked on June 18, which initiated a cease-fire between the two countries. Since then, the U.S. and Iran have continued to engage in hostilities.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Red, white and GOP hard-liner blues

Published

6 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Republicans finally cleared a runway this week to finish some of their top legislative priorities before the July 4 recess.

That is, unless a small band of hard-liners trip up those plans at takeoff.

Speaker Mike Johnson is hoping to move quickly to pass fiscal 2027 appropriations legislation, the annual defense policy bill and a kids online safety bill that has been years in the making. The movement comes after President Donald Trump instructed GOP hard-liners to stop holding up a procedural vote amid a protest from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and others that the Senate hadn’t passed Trump’s election security bill.

But Luna and other hard-liners are still threatening to tank the procedural vote that could delay the defense policy bill and other measures until they get concessions on the SAVE America Act, amid other demands.

Johnson, for example, had also promised hard-liners a vote before July 4 on a sweeping GOP immigration bill introduced in the prior Congress as H.R. 2, which is highly unlikely to happen.

Johnson for his part has said the House will “pass the SAVE America Act again” by folding parts of it into a third party-line reconciliation bill. But the slimmed-down version he’d need to pursue in order to meet strict Senate rules for the budget process is already being panned by hard-liners as insufficient.

That reconciliation bill is also already delayed. House Republicans aren’t on track to meet their goal of advancing its framework before the July 4 recess as members on the Budget panel balked over how to pay for the legislation in a closed-door meeting last week.

“Time is of the essence, given how many legislative days we have,” House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, who is sponsoring the kids online safety legislation, said in an interview last week. “If we lose a week, that would be important.”

Meanwhile, Democratic leadership is grappling with their own heated internal divisions this week. Members are split over supporting the adoption of an amendment to a fiscal 2027 spending bill from Rep. Thomas Massie that would end Israel aid and cut the overall foreign military aid program by $3.3 billion.

Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro did not instruct her colleagues on how to vote during a rare Sunday evening caucus call, two sources granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting tell Mia and Riley. Leaders did, however, criticize the amendment as poorly written.

One other item this week that could split members of each party: House lawmakers are also slated to vote on a rewritten war powers resolution from Rep. Rashida Tlaib to reign in Trump administration military actions in Lebanon. Leadership worked with Tlaib to come up with new language last month that is expected to garner more Dem support, but the resolution is still expected to fail without GOP votes.

What else we’re watching:

— SENATE GOP GETS ANTSY ABOUT NOMINATIONS: Some Republican senators are unsettled by Trump’s apparent lack of urgency in filling vacant posts, even as GOP control of the chamber beyond the midterms is increasingly in doubt. There are more than two dozen federal court vacancies. Labor secretary, FDA commissioner and scores of other open positions do not have nominees, and a senior White House official said Trump is in no rush to fill them. “We’re running short on time,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a member of Senate HELP, which oversees health, labor and other issues.

—RICK SCOTT SAYS HE’S JUST TRYING TO HELP: Fresh off his controversial Trump invite to a Senate GOP lunch last week, Sen. Rick Scott told Blue Light News in an interview he’s trying to make a mark — not trying to challenge Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Scott insists that neither his invitation to the president nor a letter he circulated afterward outlining how the Senate GOP should be preparing for the midterms should be seen as a prelude to a leadership challenge. The Florida Republican said he’s perfectly happy running the conference’s conservative Steering Committee and predicted Thune would easily secure another term as leader. What has become eminently clear in recent weeks is that Scott — after a long career in business, two terms as governor and nearly eight years as senator — just isn’t a back-bench kind of guy.

Meredith Lee Hill, Riley Rogerson, Alex Gangitano, Jordain Carney and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

Congress

Republicans get antsy about confirmations as the Senate hangs in the balance

Published

9 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump is showing little urgency in sending nominations to the Senate even as the GOP’s control of the chamber beyond 2026 is increasingly in doubt.

There are more than two dozen federal court vacancies. Labor secretary, FDA commissioner and scores of other open positions do not have nominees, and a senior White House official said Trump is in no rush to fill them.

“Ultimately, we need to have the right people in those positions,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to describe internal thinking. “So if it’s acting for now, so be it. If [it] takes a little while to find that perfect person, then it takes a little while.”

That’s unsettling some Republican senators who are anxious to fill spots ahead of the midterms, a daunting task given the legislative calendar and host of competing GOP priorities.

“We’re running short on time,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate HELP Committee, which oversees health, labor and other issues. “We’d love to get at least one or two of them and get it in the next tranche.”

As far as judges, Tuberville said he wants to see “as many as we can get” nominated, adding, “I don’t know why we don’t have more.”

Trump’s apparent nonchalance — particularly over judges — is a marked departure from his first term, when he opined that appointing people to the bench might be the “single most important thing you do” as president. But as the Senate left for a two-week recess Thursday, there were only 10 nominees pending for 29 judicial vacancies.

The vacancies come amid ongoing tensions between the Senate and Trump, who has put pressure on the chamber to pass the GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act, going so far as to cancel a planned Wednesday signing of a bipartisan housing bill.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he “absolutely” wants to see the president nominate more judges before the end of the year. Texas has three court vacancies with zero nominees.

“And that’s one of his greatest legacies, both first term and second,” Cruz said of Trump.

Trump is on pace with his first term in total confirmations in part because Republicans changed the Senate rules last year to confirm slates of civilian posts at once by a simple majority vote.

One tranche confirmed in Mayincluded 49 nominees, from ambassadors to midlevel posts at various federal agencies. So far, 502 of Trump’s second-term nominees have been confirmed, compared to 509 at this point during his first term and 601 at the same point during former President Joe Biden’s term.

Federal judges and members of the Cabinet still have to be confirmed individually, despite the rule change for other posts.

Trump inherited only about 40 judicial vacancies for his current term, fewer than any president since Ronald Reagan. Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) previously complained that the White House hasn’t nominated more judges. More recently, though, he’s blaming his committee for not acting more quickly on the already pending nominees.

“Right now it’s hard for me to blame the White House when in the last three executive weeks, we were supposed to have meetings to vote judges out, we couldn’t have enough members present,” Grassley said in an interview.

A White House official said “Trump plans to nominate well qualified individuals to fill these vacancies.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he’s had “a couple good discussions” with the White House about a circuit court vacancy, which he expects the administration to fill. As a Judiciary Committee member, he can block any nominee that doesn’t get support from Democrats.

“If it’s somebody I support, I’ll vote for them. If it’s somebody I don’t support, I’ll vote no,” Kennedy said. “It’s an important spot. They know I’m on Judiciary, and they know I’ll vote no if I don’t agree.”

The Labor secretary and FDA commissioner picks, meanwhile, go through the HELP committee — chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who lost his primary last month after Trump endorsed a challenger.

Republicans have been left in the dark about those nominees, some on the panel say.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said he’s heard “nothing at all” and “radio silence” from administration. Another GOP senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said they’ve heard nothing from the administration about its thinking or plans for a Labor secretary nominee specifically.

The HELP Committee membership poses challenges for the administration. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) previously expressed concerns about Casey Means’ nomination as surgeon general before Trump pulled her, for example. And the dynamic between the president and the chair could be a hurdle, three people granted anonymity to comment on the process said.

“Why give Cassidy a platform to get back at DJT?” one of them said.

Another, a GOP senator, predicted Cassidy would “play games” with nominees who have to go through his committee.

“I really don’t think a lot of senators are in any mood to give the president any wins because they’re frustrated with him,” said the third person, who is close to the White House.

But confirming nominees before he leaves the Senate could be a priority for Cassidy, one of the few Republican doctors to push the administration toward public health nominees who align with established science on issues like vaccines.

A potential successor — Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — is a critic of the vaccine and masking standards set during the pandemic and would likely set the committee on a different path.

Recent appointees such as Nicole Saphier for surgeon general and Erica Schwartz for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director are more mainstream than some past HHS appointees like Means and Dave Weldon, who was nominated for CDC director before the administration determined he didn’t have the votes.

Those nominees have been moving through the regular process, including meeting with Cassidy and other senators ahead of confirmation hearings.

Cassidy told reporters after he lost his primary that he would “vote for the good of my country and the good of my state.”

“There’s some nominees that have not gotten through committee for whatever reason, so that’s not anything new,” he added. “That’ll just be part of the process.”

A HELP Committee spokesperson added Thursday that Cassidy has voted for every Trump nominee and that the panel will “do its job to confirm qualified nominees and serve the American people.”

“Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” the spokesperson added.

The White House official said “Trump remains committed to nominating highly qualified individuals for a variety of posts that are aligned with the agenda the American people elected him to enact” and will continue to send nominees to the Senate, including to the HELP Committee.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview he had not spoken to the White House about their plans for some of the major picks under HELP jurisdiction but he encouraged the administration to send nominees.

“I think it’s always better to have people in permanent positions rather than temporary,” Thune added.

Megan Messerly contributed to this report.