The Dictatorship

Schumer’s cautious approach to winning in November appears likely to backfire

Published

1 month ago

May 5, 2026

May. 5, 2026, 11:48 AM EDT

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will get a rare piece of good news Tuesday night: An old friend is primed to win a Senate primary in a crucial state.

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown is a heavy favorite for the Democratic nomination in Ohio as he mounts a comeback attempt in a race that could determine control of the chamber.

Schumer first recruited Brown to run for the Senate two decades ago, and the former senator remains the party’s strongest prospect in a state where Democrats have long struggled. His nomination reflects Schumer’s calculated strategy of backing candidates with proven crossover appeal, such as former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

But that cautious formula has sparked blowback from progressives who argue that Schumer has misread the political moment.

Schumer “has an idea of what voters want that’s stuck in 1996,” Amanda Litman, co-founder of the progressive group Run For Something, told knownadding that he is “deeply removed from the anger that people feel.”

The limits of Schumer’s approach were on display last week in Maine. Gov. Janet Mills, whom Schumer recruited to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, dropped out of the primary after failing to keep pace with the fundraising of populist newcomer Graham Platner. It was a stinging defeat for the Democratic establishment, which had hoped Mills’ executive experience would neutralize Platner’s grassroots momentum.

It was the starkest sign yet of Schumer’s waning influence over a party he has led for a decade.

The same day Mills exited the race, Michigan Senate hopeful Mallory McMorrow pivoted to social media to remind voters of her defiance, noting she was “the only candidate in this race” who said she would not support Schumer as Democratic leader. The Michigan state senator is currently locked in a brutal three-way primary against former health official Abdul El-Sayed and the Schumer-backed Rep. Haley Stevens.

McMorrow is hardly alone. In Illinois, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton — a progressive backed by Gov. JB Pritzker who is the Democratic Senate nominee — has made “Schumer skepticism” a core tenet of her brand. Democratic voters are “looking for fighters, not folders,” Stratton told progressive commentator Jack Cocchiarella, a clear jab at the leader’s perceived caution.

To stem the bleeding, Schumer has pivoted to the left.

Schumer hasn’t stayed idle. To stem the bleeding, he has pivoted to the left, backing Democrats who protested this year’s State of the Union and tethering the party to an aggressive “affordability agenda.” He is currently championing plans to slash housing costs and curb energy prices spiked by the war in Iran. During the record-breaking 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security — the longest in U.S. history — Schumer held the line, refusing to fund the agency without sweeping reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“He is as aggressive as any of us in seeking remedies here,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut recently told MS NOW.

But the effort has yet to move the needle. RealClearPolitics polling shows Schumer’s approval at a 20-year low, with 48% of the electorate viewing him unfavorably.

In key Senate battlegrounds, Schumer’s blessing is looking more like a burden. In Iowa, state Rep. Josh Turek is neck and neck with state Sen. Zach Wahls, who has campaigned on Schumer critiques, and in Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan consistently leads Schumer’s recruit, Rep. Angie Craig, in the race to succeed Tina Smith.

Both Democrats and Republicans say they are prioritizing ideological alignment instead of electability of candidates, according to an NBC News poll from March. But while Wahls and Flanagan represent progressives, the shift isn’t just to the left. In Texas, James Talarico bested Rep. Jasmine Crockett by running as an antiestablishment centrist.

Still, Schumer has had some wins. Along with Cooper in North Carolina, he helped pull Mary Peltola into the Alaska Senate race, another one that could prove crucial to winning the majority.

But it’s a high-wire act in a tight election year for Democrats. Even if Brown wins the Ohio nomination, he will face a tough race against Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to the seat in 2025.

If Brown loses, Schumer will own the defeat as well, and it could cost him more than just the Senate majority.

This is a preview of MS NOW’s Project 47 Newsletter. As President Trump continues implementing his ambitious agenda, get expert analysis on the administration’s latest actions and how others are pushing back sent straight to your inbox every Tuesday. Sign up now.

Elizabeth Maline is a senior assignment editor for MS NOW.

The Dictatorship

Court denies request to immediately block DOJ ‘slush fund’

Published

8 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Court denies request to immediately block DOJ ‘slush fund’

Jun. 10, 2026, 6:14 PM EDT

A federal judge in Washington has denied a bid Wednesday brought by a watchdog group to immediately block the Justice Department’s “anti-weaponization” fund, for now choosing to trust the department’s assertions that it is not moving forward with the fund.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled immediately, denying Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked the Department of Justice from taking steps to create the fund.

Throughout the 30-minute hearing, the DOJ reiterated that the administration was not moving forward with the nearly $1.8 billion fund, which seeks to compensate individuals who allege they have been politically targeted or victimized by the DOJ.

Andrew Block, the only lawyer present for the government, repeatedly cited Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s June 2 congressional testimonyin which he said the administration was “not moving forward” with plans to create the fund.

Leon indicated he agreed with the DOJ’s position that the case appeared to be moot, saying he was not persuaded there was an issue for the court to decide regarding the creation of the fund. He issued a stern warning to the DOJ, saying, “Don’t play possum with this court!” — meaning he does not want to be deceived.

The plaintiffs argued Blanche’s testimony did not amount to an official cancellation. Nikhel Sus, CREW’s attorney, said Blanche “refused to memorialize that rescission,” or in other words, put it in writing. Sus said that was “highly unusual.” Leon responded, “This whole case is highly unusual to say the least.”

Leon asked the government twice why they would not just rescind the order that established the fund. Block responded, “I don’t know,” and pointed again to Blanche’s public statements about the fund’s future.

Both Leon and Sus raised the issue of Trump’s continued public defense of the fund. “It can still be an important issue and also not moving forward,” Block said. “That isn’t a direction to move forward with the fund.”

Although Leon rejected CREW’s bid for an immediate block, he indicated he is still considering its request for a longer-term block against the fund.

A block order from a separate federal judge in Virginia remains in effect until at least Friday.

Fallon Gallagher is a legal affairs reporter for MS NOW.

The Dictatorship

Trump is accelerating our Social Security insolvency crisis

Published

8 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Jun. 10, 2026, 5:50 PM EDT

The date when Social Security’s trust fund is expected to run out of money just got bumped up. The fund is now projected to empty in 2032according to a new report released by Social Security’s trustees.

The new depletion date isn’t an earth-shaking change — it’s only a quarter earlier than the estimate in last year’s report. But it illustrates how President Donald Trump’s policies are degrading a program he promised to never jeopardize — and accelerating an approaching crisis in how our government will assist the elderly and disabled.

The report names three factors that contributed to the earlier insolvency date. One is a declining fertility rate, but the other two drivers can be traced back to Trump: a drop in immigration into the country, and the “substantial effect” of the tax policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill he signed last summer.

Trump’s acceleration of the program’s insolvency comes atop his assaults on the program’s administrative capacities.

Reduced immigration during Trump’s second term — especially when coupled with a declining fertility rate — strains Social Security because the program is funded through payroll taxes. Those come out of people’s paychecks, and fewer workers supporting an aging population means the program receives less revenue. Indeed, Social Security already has been tapping its trust fund for the better part of the past two decades because the program’s costs have exceeded its cash income. And as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities pointed out last yearlast year’s tax cuts were a boon to the rich but a bust for the solvency of the Social Security trust fund.

To be clear, if the fund is depleted, Social Security won’t go belly up. Benefits will continue to be paid out, but there will be a large drop in the amount. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the “average monthly cut would total $500, which is more than what the average retired household spends on groceries each month.”

That would be a huge blow to the budgets of many older Americans. Social Security is a major source of income for most retirees, and roughly 40% of beneficiaries over the age of 65 rely on it for most of their income. And it would mark the destabilization of the sole source of retirement security for most Americans that is supposed to be insulated from ups and downs — unlike 401K plans. As the CBPP has pointed outSocial Security is “most workers’ only source of guaranteed retirement income that is not subject to investment risk or financial market fluctuations.”

Trump’s acceleration of the program’s insolvency comes atop his assaults on the program’s administrative capacities. His cuts to the Social Security Administration have left offices understaffedincreased wait timesand reduced quality of customer service.

Ultimately, Trump is exacerbating a colossal social safety net problem that predates him, and the trust fund will hit dire straits after he has left office. Democrats need to have clear plans for shoring up the program and making it robust for the future — which will require not being sheepish about taxes as a tool for renewing the social contract. And when Republicans try to claim that they, too, are champions of Social Security, all Democrats need to do is point to the truth.

Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He primarily writes about politics and foreign policy.

The Dictatorship

Wednesday’s Mini-Report, 6.10.26

Published

8 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* The latest from Northern Ireland: “The family of a man who lost an eye in a knife attack appealed for calm on Wednesday after the incident triggered a wave of anti-immigrant violence in Belfast overnight, with masked men burning families out of their homes and torching vehicles. The appeal ‌came as a Sudanese man appeared in court charged with attempted murder and as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and politicians in Northern Ireland condemned the violence by ‘masked thugs’ that had targeted ethnic minorities.”

* In related news: “The British government hit out at X owner Elon Musk Wednesday, accusing him of whipping up tensions online ahead of disorder in Belfast.”

* The tenuous state of a dubious ceasefire: “Trump said the U.S. is going to hit Iran ‘hard’ today when pressed by reporters in the Oval Office about his statement earlier that Tehran will ‘pay the price’ for taking ‘too long’ to reach a peace agreement. ‘Well, we’re going to be attacking them and attacking them very hard, resuming bombing,’ he said.”

* The latest casualty figures from Lebanon: “Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon has killed at least 3,666 people, including 131 healthcare workers, and injured more than 11,300 since the U.S. and Israel began their war with Iran in late February, the Lebanese health ministry reported yesterday.”

* The changing nature of modern warfare: “Ukraine is wreaking havoc on unarmored trucks and trains in the battlefield’s rear, using drones with upgraded engines and batteries, integrated Starlink communication systems and new artificial-intelligence capabilities. The ramped-up attacks are causing fuel shortages, complicating troop rotations and reducing Russian military activity on the front.”

* This seems like a reasonable request: “Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee demanded Wednesday that Bill Pulte, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for acting director of national intelligence, submit to a full security check before assuming the post, including an examination of his financial holdings and foreign contacts.”

* Some market trends can’t be stopped despite the White House’s best efforts: “Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power. Data released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said.”

* A bizarre schedule for a nonemergency vanity project: “Federal officials are laying more groundwork to begin construction on President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot-tall triumphal arch, sharing additional documents that detail the project’s scope and an aggressive timetable for potentially completing work before Trump’s term ends. According to National Park Service documents posted this month, the administration envisions 20 hours per day of construction on the arch, year-round, in hopes of completing the project within two to three years.”

See you tomorrow.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”