42
votes
US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to vote yes on GOP spending bill
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- Title
- Schumer says he will vote to advance GOP spending bill, lowering threat of shutdown
- Published
- Mar 13 2025
- Word count
- 451 words
Why? Just why? Why would you be so compliant in the constant regression of the country? Just vote no and let the party in power deal with the fallout. The long-term implications of letting the right-wing run wild are much more grave than the short term pain of a government shutdown.
It genuinely blows my mind that democrats are lying down so easily. Like, did they all completely forget the front row seats they had for that day 4 years when democracy nearly fell? Aided and encouraged by the very same people they're dealing with now?
If they don't fight a fight that's this easy to win, how can we expect them to fight for the truth when Republicans inevitably claim the next election is being stolen and ignore the votes? I'm close to losing all hope at this point.
If the shutdown doesn't happen I'd say there's a decent chance of the Democratic party ripping in two - assuming that's not already going to happen anyway. It's becoming painfully obvious the top of the party are completely ungrounded from the reality the US and the world at large faces.
One theory I've read is that they want to be sure that the Republicans are blamed for all the bad stuff happening to the US government this year.
I heard the same thing when I was listening to the news yesterday, that Schumer was warded off by Trump's popularity in the polls and that they will be more aggressive next time around when he and the Republicans are less popular. If that's really the case, then that is a perfect example of the Democratic leadership's complete inability or unwillingness to be persuasive. Those Democrats will always tell people what they think they want to hear, which is why we can expect gun show visits and podcast appearances where they chum it up with right wing freaks.
It seems like there are lots of Democrats trying to persuade on social media, including many members of Congress? But it doesn't seem to be all that effective.
Although, it's unclear if that really counts as a serious attempt - it's mostly preaching to the choir.
Maybe the lesson here is that persuasion is a lot harder than many people make it out to be.
You can highlight individuals within the Democratic Party and point to their advocacy for various causes, but I am specifically talking about the party leadership under Schumer, Jefferies, and (formerly) Biden/Harris and the way that they capitulate to right-wing politics. Its not just the last two months of malaise, either. Look at the issue of immigration during the election, or the shift away from trans rights that is currently unfolding, or how they've approached massive pressing issues like healthcare or climate change over the past decade. Or better yet, just compare the way they communicate with the public vs they way the Republicans communicate. Anytime they think the polling is not clearly in favor of their policies, they will change their position or abandon the issue, regardless of its importance (unless it's related to arming Israel as it commits a genocide).
There is no vision that they are fighting for outside of "we're not as bad as MAGA Republicans."
Anyone who isn't a sycophant already realizes this is "on them".
To win elections, it might help to convince some of the sycophants too. If the fever breaks, that would really be something.
Realize I'm late to the party. But Schumer likely remembers the fallout to Newt Gingrich and Contract with America due to a shutdown. Not sure that excuses his choice, but it might explain it.
Keeping it civil. I'm a left-leaning guy, and the amount of outcry I've seen from my peers against this is nuts.
I'm rather surprised he cannot see the forest for the trees here, and is unable to realize that either way the GOP is going to "do what it wants", and handing them any leverage is a bad idea.
Here’s a perspective on this: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/black-thursday-in-the-democratic-senate-an-explainer
For me, this is the key point.
Voting to advance the CR might be the right call given the situation the Dems find themselves in. But they don't have to be in this exact situation. This is literally the only time they will have any actual leverage until at least the midterms, and yet they somehow didn't come in with a plan. No messaging, no demands telegraphed ahead of time. JFC, how can they be this bad at politics? How? How???
I seriously think that this is the moment that will cause the base to truly and irrevocably break with the Democratic establishment as it currently exists. Losing the election could be blamed on bad circumstances and Biden's hubris, but the recent string of optics wet farts, culminating in a failure to even attempt to accomplish anything the one time they had an opportunity to do so, is disgusting considering the stakes we're dealing with.
Whenever I see Schumer talk, I never get the sense that he's in any way bothered by what's going on. The man lived through Jan 6, for Christ's sake! Where's his sense of urgency? Is he really just a creature of the machine with no actual ideological commitments? Even then, he should still be alarmed, because the machine is bleeding to death.
The fact that Schumer even tried this is a damning indictment of his political sensibilities. This isn't the 2000s anymore. Engaged voters---you know, the ones you need going to bat for you on social media---are paying attention to the minutiae of the political process. And if legislators in your own party don't like what you're doing, they can just go tell their constituents directly what's going on. And then people are even more pissed off, because you're doing the thing that people don't want you to do, and you essentially lied to them, and getting caught in the lie makes the whole party look foolish and incompetent. Oh, also, you burned your colleagues in the House. Trying to hoodwink your own base with a procedural shell game is scummy, and doing it this badly is pathetic.
And it's such a Democratic establishment gesture, too. It's on par with Pelosi tearing up Trump's State of the Union speech in 2020. That era of politics is over, but the Democratic establishment is apparently incapable of absorbing that fact. I make no predictions about what will happen to Schumer personally, but I'm now convinced that 2026 will be a bloodbath for Democratic incumbents.
Someone on reddit mentioned an Ezra Klein interview with Tim Miller last year, where "top Dems" didn't understand why people thought Donald Trump is an existential threat to democracy. The redditor suspected one of them was Schumer. (Screenshot of the interview transcript)
Honestly? It makes sense given how he, as a "top Dem," is acting.
I fully believe it. But I find it impossible to understand how he (or, if it's not him, any Democratic Congressperson) could possibly feel that way. Again, he lived through Jan 6. While a mob of the President's most fervent supporters, who very well might have killed Schumer if things had gone a little differently, roamed the Capitol, Trump was calling up Republican legislators and telling them to delay the certification. And this was just one part of a broader conspiracy to steal the 2020 election. It's one thing to think that things will probably turn out all right, but to say that you don't see how Trump is even a threat to democracy? He already tried to destroy it in broad daylight! What more evidence could you possibly need?!
I see a lot of comments online about how the Democratic Party is just controlled opposition. This kind of thing is why.
I don't buy the "controlled opposition" narrative. That's actually the comforting thing to believe, because the alternative is that they're the best we have.
The best unless we primary them?
Or organize around a third party?
I'm warming to the idea that the Democratic party is completely unsavable. These guys drop the ball, and rug pull at every turn. If they're not incompetent they're complicit in everything that's happening. This has been happening since at least Obama.
It's time to abandon the Democrats. Will it be painful? Sure, but it's pretty frickin painful now, and these clowns seem intent on just allowing all the bad shit to happen anyways.
So I'm pretty serious about throwing all my support behind something like the DSA. And if we do this, it can't just be for show. Not just so the Democrats apologize and throw us some crumbs. No, we have to quit on them completely. Dems are so hapless and feckless that they can't get out of their own way.
Because of the US's terrible electoral design (it was one of the earlier democracies to be fair), it is nearly impossible for a serious third party to emerge and affect national politics. On the other hand, there are lots of historical examples of massive shifts in both party's policies. I mean the Republicans used to be the party of Lincoln and now they're open fascists.
The US primary system is very small and easy to swing. It's where your time, effort, and money has the biggest potential payoff, especially in blue districts where the primary is the real election!
In terms of grassroots activism, pressuring or even taking over an existing political party is infinitely more feasible than building up a replacement, and doesn't require ceding super-duper majority control to the other side while the vote is split for years in the interim.
I’d say we should copy MAGA. Party-within-a-party is the approach to use. I want to see the few good Democrats run under a new name but still officially keep their party.
The Working Families Party is caucusing with Democrats to block or promote legislation, supporting progressive candidates in office at all levels of government, and primarying traditional Democrats. See if there's a chapter in your area, or start one.
It's the closest that we can come to taking over the party without the electoral costs of third-party politics in the U.S.
'Sanders 2016 shows that, at least at the national level, we can't 'primary' them. The DNC has far too much control, which is one of the real nasty sources of the problem.
Try harder. The people do have control. The problem is too many aren’t engaging.
I have been for many years independent, meaning I am not a registered with D or R. I for one can't understand how in the hell can this Senator or any Democratic Senator/House Representative can be so out of touch with the base and be completely surprised by this CR. Democrats should have had an alternative ready to go the minute the thing hit the floor, instead of this foolishness. I don't know if 2026 will be what it will be for Democrats but a reckoning needs to happen at the top of the Democratic party and leadership. Incompetence can't be rewarded, the Democrats got rid of a Senator because of allegations. They should add another reason, incompetence.
I've come back to re-read these sentences multiple times! I'm uncertain averting if a shutdown was right or not, but I'm more frustrated that the Democrats still look leaderless. Even if the Republicans won this fight, can I at least get some assurance that the Dems have rallied around a strategy?
I wrote to both of my senators about this, and I'm pretty close in NJ. Would suggest people to do the same.
Same. Wrote to both my senators here in Virginia. Not sure how Sens. Kaine and Warner have said how they're going to vote. I hope it's a resounding NO, given how many federal employees, contractors, etc, are here and how many have already been affected by the administration, "the King," and DOGE.
I don't understand Sen Schumer's rationale that shutting down the government just gives the administration and the Right what they want. They already got what they've wanted; don't give them the opportunity to gain more.
Sigh. The Dems seem to have no spine at all.
The house rejected the Republican budget completely, and many swing state senators are publicly livid with Schumer's weak rhetoric and actions. The Dems have a serious leadership gerontocracy problem.
Sadly Democrats need unity to block this. I see backbone from many.
Many do, but there are far too many, especially at the top, that do not. The top is where it is needed the most.
The Onion: Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
Somehow the headline from the Onion is more accurate here... Man, the democrats need to either grow a spine or just break up.
I hate to say it, but I'm with Schumer on this.
There is a very real risk that Trump drives USA into a deep recession. Republicans are desperate to blame this on the Democrats, and this would give them plausible blame-ability.
I don't like Schumer. He has no apparent strategy. He has no voice. He is too afraid to make waves. But you don't interrupt your enemy when they are making a blunder of epic proportions. You do call them out on it though.
Obama stood up during Bush's presidency, and called the Iraq war "stupid." He not only was right that Bush would start a second war, he was right that people would eventually realize it was stupid.
I've been waiting for someone to standup and say, look, I'm not against tariffs. I am not against improving government efficiency. I'm not against peace. I'm just against stupid tariffs and chainsaw government cuts and picking fights with our allies. Because the pain will be real. Real jobs lost. Real lives impacted.
Pain is only gain if it's the right kind. Stupid pain is not the right kind of pain. No brain, no gain.
I am genuinely engaging you in good faith here but I want to ask some questions:
Are not Trump and his team already doing this? They already seemingly do not want to abide by any norms or rule of law, and are taking an axe to everything anyway.
The counter-argument here is "rubber stamping" this with the Democratic Party seal of approval is arguably worse, because it shows an unwillingness to vote for what your constituents are directly asking you to vote for. Furthermore, it ties in the Democrats as having "approved" this disaster, even if it is merely "symbolic" since Republicans can (and most likely will) force this through anyway without Democrat votes.
I don't disagree with anything you said.
The least Schumer could have done would be to appear strong where he is weak and spineless.
From the get go Schumer should have been attacking the stupidity "Trump is wrecking this countries economy with a chainsaw, we aren't going to help him by shutting down the government. This budget is stupid, we don't support this stupidity, but we aren't going to add to the stupidity with a government shutdown."
I don't know enough about US politics to know what the politically astute move was. You could be right. Maybe the right thing to do would be to wait to see if a shutdown would happen before folding.
I do know the Democrats were in an impossible situation. Republicans love shut downs. It gives them everything they want. Schumer is playing cards and he has a terrible hand, and he is gormless.
How would they force it through anyway?
Essentially cloture is just an agreement by a super-majority to end a vote quickly on a matter without much debate.
So even if Democrats vote no on cloture, Republicans can force the matter by bringing up a vote anyway, and then when an actual vote happens on the bill after "debate", a simple majority will decide that bill's fate.
As I understand, Budget Reconciliation & matters relating to government funding are "immune" to filibuster. This means, should the cloture fail, Republicans can bring forward the bill to be voted on normally, and it cannot be filibustered. Hence they can force it through.
This isn't a reconciliation bill though, just a continuing resolution. They punted on that until the new fiscal year in September because they haven't (yet) agreed on a budget blueprint internally. So that fight's coming up (not to mention another debt ceiling fight), but who knows what the political landscape will look like by then.
The point I was making was that "Budget Reconciliation"-like bills (finance appropriations for gov. expenditures) are not able to be filibustered.
The budget is not entirely immune to the filibuster, only specific parts of are, including mandatory spending, revenues, and the debt limit.
A few days ago, Schumer came out with a full throated attack
If Schumer had shut down the government over the budget, the Republicans would been non stop blaming Schumer for the upcoming recession.
Now it's fairly clear that Trump's Tariffs are the primary cause of any near term recession.
With friends like these...