(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Schumer needs to go, but not for the CR vote [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-03-14

I’ve been a DailyKos member since 2009, but this is only my second story. I’m sorry in advance for whatever I mess up. :)

I strongly disagree with Senator Schumer’s decision to vote for cloture on the continuing resolution, but I can see the logic of it. @Goodnewsroundup makes a solid case that Schumer’s surrender is a difference of opinion on strategy and that Schumer by bucking the base is actually taking a brave stand. I recommend reading the post and the links within to read smart counterarguments.

The CR cloture vote is not why Schumer should be replaced as leader in the Senate. It is what he has failed to do in the weeks leading up to vote and his actions this week that show him to be an ineffective leader.

Shortly after Trump took office and Musk started destroying the government, it became apparent that the CR and debt ceiling votes were the only leverage that Democrats had. Josh Marshall wrote a great explanation of the dynamic on February 6th. At that time, I started asking my Representative and Senators to plan ahead and vote no unless the lawbreaking stopped.

If the CR was going to be a critical negotiating lever, then Democratic leadership needed to start laying the groundwork for it in public earlier. Instead, they negotiated behind closed doors. They banked on Republicans being unable to get the bill through the House. And then when Republicans did, they had no plan. They had laid no groundwork.

That was bad enough, but this week Schumer compounded the issues. He proclaimed that Republicans didn’t have the votes for cloture, but as Josh Marshall put it, this was Kabuki theater:



Pretty quickly I heard from multiple sources what was actually happening. This was a deal between Schumer and Thune to allow a brief performative episode to throw Democratic voters off the scent while the Democratic caucus allowed the bill to pass. The deal is this: Democrats agree to give up the 60-vote threshold in exchange for being allowed to offer amendments to the House bill. The “amendment” or “amendments” will likely be some version of Sen. Murray’s 30-day CR. It doesn’t even matter what they are. But this is all for show. Once you give up the 60-vote threshold the whole thing is over.

So in less than 24 hours, Schumer goes from giving Democratic voters hope that their Senators are going to stand up and use the filibuster that told us we would need, to realizing that they weren’t even going to do the Kabuki part. They were going to cave all along.

I was in favor of getting rid of the filibuster, but if you don’t get rid of it and you don’t use it in the midst of a constitutional crisis, when are you going to use it?

This leaves Schumer and the rest of the Democratic Senators in a worse place than they would have been if he had started the week saying, “We’re not going to shut down the government.” The fact he can’t defend his position to Chris Hayes without it sounding completely contradictory is telling.

x HAYES: There's an unconstitutional assault on the government right now SCHUMER: There is, absolutely HAYES: But they say you're not fighting! SCHUMER: They're already doing it without this CR — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-03-14T00:28:59.960Z

So let’s give Schumer the benefit of the doubt that he is right and voting for cloture is the right strategic move for Democrats. If that’s the case, it would be the first correct strategic decision he has made in the days and weeks leading up to everyone could see was going to be the best point of leverage for Democrats.

And that’s why he should be removed from his Senate Minority Leader position: not for the vote, but for everything leading up to it.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/14/2310178/-Schumer-needs-to-go-but-not-for-the-CR-vote?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/