Schumer Says He Has No Intention of Stepping Down Despite Furor Over Government Funding

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, says he won’t resign his post, despite pressure from some in his party after he voted to move forward with a Republican spending bill that avoided a government shutdown.“Look, I’m not stepping down,” Mr. Schumer said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. The New York senator said he knew voting for the bill backed by Republican President Trump would spark “a lot of controversy.”“I did it out of pure conviction as to what a leader should do and what the right thing for America and my party was,” he said. “People disagree.”Democrats last week were confronted with two painful options: allowing passage of a bill they believe gave Mr. Trump vast discretion on spending decisions or letting funding lapse. After Mr. Schumer said he’d vote to advance the spending measure, 10 Democrats supported breaking the party’s filibuster and allowing the bill to pass.Mr. Schumer’s move has sparked outrage from some Democrats and liberal activists who protested at his office and called on him to resign his position. They said they’d like to see him face a primary challenge — perhaps from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.The uproar prompted Schumer last week to postpone his book tour amid a series of planned progressive demonstrations.Mr. Schumer told NBC that the spending bill that funds the government through September was “certainly bad.” But he argued that not voting to provide the funding would have been “15 or 20 times worse.” He called his action “a vote of principle,” arguing that “sometimes when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve.”In an interview that also aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Senator Sanders criticized Mr. Schumer and other members of Democratic Senate leadership. But he abruptly ended the interview when asked about Ms. Ocasio-Cortez potentially being elected to the Senate.“I don’t want to talk about inside-the-beltway stuff,” Mr. Sanders said.Associated Press

Schumer Says He Has No Intention of Stepping Down Despite Furor Over Government Funding

More from the New York Sun

UEFA Weighs World Cup Boycott Over Infantino’s $20 Billion Private Equity Push

xAI Argues Minnesota’s Ban on ‘Nudification’ Violates the First Amendment

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Void E. Jean Carroll’s $83 Million Verdict Imposed for ‘Extraordinary and ‘Egregious’ Defamation

Cornyn Cancels Meeting With Blanche as Texas Senator Ramps Up Pressure To Reverse Trump’s IRS Immunity

Sophie Cunningham’s Transgender Stance Sparks Pre-game Rally at Seattle

Russia Charges Telegram Founder With Aiding Terrorism for Allowing Ukrainian Intelligence Accounts

Paul Orders Contempt Vote After Fauci Refuses To Answer Questions at Senate Covid Hearing

Jay Clayton Confirmed as New Director of National Intelligence, Replacing Trump Loyalist Bill Pulte