{"id":12033,"date":"2025-08-05T08:47:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T08:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/trump-schumer-standoff-heads-for-fall-rematch\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T08:47:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T08:47:21","slug":"trump-schumer-standoff-heads-for-fall-rematch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/trump-schumer-standoff-heads-for-fall-rematch\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump-Schumer standoff heads for fall rematch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Donald Trump and Chuck Schumer went head-to-head last week for the first time in nearly six months. Turns out they were only shadow-boxing \u2014 and the real bout is still to come.<\/p>\n

The president pulled the plug on a possible deal<\/a> to confirm some administration nominees, while the Senate\u2019s top Democrat \u2014 under pressure from his party to take a tougher stand \u2014 boasted afterward that Trump came away with nothing.<\/p>\n

Now, the two men are headed toward a fall rematch with much higher stakes<\/a>: whether to keep the federal government open past a Sept. 30 funding deadline.<\/p>\n

Despite decades of history between them, their relationship is now almost nonexistent. They haven\u2019t had a formal one-on-one meeting since Trump\u2019s second inauguration. And they did not speak directly as part of the nominations negotiations, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private details.<\/p>\n

The unraveling of a typical pre-summer-recess nominations deal has many on Capitol Hill concerned about what is to come. While other congressional leaders are sure to figure into the negotiations, it\u2019s Schumer \u2014 who will determine whether Senate Democrats filibuster spending legislation \u2014 and Trump \u2014 who has to sign any shutdown-averting bill \u2014 who will be the key players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be better if those two negotiated,\u201d Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said of Trump and Schumer.<\/p>\n

Cramer said Senate Majority Leader John Thune served last week as the \u201carbitrator\u201d ferrying between the \u201cbare-knuckled\u201d New Yorkers during the recent nominations fight. And Speaker Mike Johnson will have his hands full trying to keep his thin majority<\/a> united behind a spending strategy that will keep the pressure on Democrats.<\/p>\n

Democrats believe the onus is on Thune and Johnson to wrangle Trump \u2014 the dominant leader of their party \u2014 and convince him to come to the table. They are using their hardball tactics over nominations as a warning shot for the fall funding fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cSooner or later, Donald Trump \u2014 Mr. \u2018Art of the Deal,\u2019 or so he claims \u2014 is going to have to learn that he has to work with Democrats if he wants to get deals, good deals, that help the American people,\u201d Schumer said late Saturday night as the Senate prepared to leave town for the summer. \u201cGoing at it alone will be a failed strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s decision to temporarily abandon his confirmations push rather than give in to what he called \u201cpolitical extortion\u201d from Schumer allowed the embattled Democratic leader to do a pre-recess victory lap after taking heat from the party base for months.<\/p>\n

Schumer came under fierce criticism<\/a> in March for helping to advance a shutdown-avoiding spending bill written solely by Republicans. He warned at the time that a shutdown would only empower Trump and that the dynamic would be different come September as, he predicted, Trump became more unpopular. Nine other members of his caucus joined him.<\/p>\n

Trump initially urged Republicans to stay in Washington until all of the roughly 150 pending nominees were confirmed \u2014 a demand that could have essentially erased the Senate\u2019s planned four-week recess.<\/p>\n

But Schumer and Democrats demanded that Trump unfreeze congressionally approved spending in return for consenting to the swift approval of some nominees. Trump would not pay the price.<\/p>\n

In a post where he blasted \u201cSenator Cryin\u2019 Chuck Schumer,\u201d<\/a> Trump instructed senators to go home. Republicans flirted with adjourning the Senate to let Trump make recess appointments, but that would have required recalling the House \u2014 and reviving the Trump-centered drama over the Jeffrey Epstein files. Instead, they are vowing to pursue a rules change later this year to quickly push Trump\u2019s nominees through the Senate.<\/p>\n

Schumer relished the Truth Social post, putting a poster-sized version on display next to him as he spoke to reporters Saturday night and comparing it to a \u201cfit of rage.\u201d<\/p>\n

He kept the heat on Monday, joining with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to demand a so-called \u201cfour corners\u201d meeting with Thune and Johnson to discuss a government funding strategy lest a government shutdown hit Oct. 1. (Republicans, who accuse Schumer of \u201cbreaking\u201d the funding process, haven\u2019t responded.)<\/p>\n

Though Schumer and Thune have had informal talks about September, they haven\u2019t delved beyond the broad strokes. The South Dakota Republican, asked about Trump and Schumer, predicted the two will have an \u201cevolving relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, obviously, there are certain things they are just going to have to figure out, because on some of these things where we need 60 [votes] there are going to have to be conversations,\u201d Thune said in a brief interview.<\/p>\n

Schumer and Thune joined 85 other senators to advance the chamber\u2019s first bipartisan funding package late last week, in a show of unity that senators hope will pave the way for another package of spending bills in September. But Congress is still expected to need a short-term funding patch by Oct. 1, and there are early signs of splinters among Republicans about what that step should look like.<\/p>\n

But the nomination fight also underscores that Trump is the ultimate wild card heading into the showdown.<\/p>\n

At various points heading into and over the weekend, Republicans and Democrats appeared to believe they were close to an agreement and just needed Trump\u2019s blessing, only for it to unravel.<\/p>\n

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said that Schumer\u2019s “satisfaction” in the wake of the nominations showdown is justified but added it was impossible to predict if Trump would come to the table in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most striking and salient facts about Donald Trump is his unpredictability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Schumer and Senate Democrats have been trying to game out multiple scenarios in closed-door caucus meetings. They have also been discussing what demands to make in exchange for their votes to fund the government. Those could range from an ironclad commitment from Republicans that they won\u2019t agree to more claw back more funding or seeking policy concessions, such as unfreezing foreign aid or National Institutes of Health funds, or pursuing a deal on soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act tax credits.<\/p>\n

Democrats have their own internal fault lines to manage. Already Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is vowing to vote to keep the government open, while others like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are striking a more combative tone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Republicans\u2019 unwillingness to commit to rejecting future spending clawbacks, she said, shows \u201cthe budget negotiations weren\u2019t worth the paper they were written on.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Schumer, for now, is savoring the moment. After he wrapped up his news conference Saturday night, the smiling Democratic leader insisted his party was \u201cmore effective and more unified than the Republicans\u201d as he kibitzed with reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think \u2014 the art of the deal?\u201d he asked, his arm around a poster-board display of Trump\u2019s \u201cCryin\u2019 Chuck\u201d post.<\/p>\n

Jake Traylor contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump and Chuck Schumer went head-to-head last week for the first time in nearly six months. Turns out they were only shadow-boxing \u2014 and the real bout is still to come. The president pulled the plug on a possible deal to confirm some administration nominees, while the Senate\u2019s top Democrat \u2014 under pressure from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}