Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has now perhaps become the most high-profile victim of the Democratic Party’s civil war – with less emphasis on the “civil.” A new breed of zealous progressives has been extending its influence over the party for at least the last decade, and President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory may have been the last straw for this radical faction. Schumer suddenly finds himself widely unpopular, and that may well bring an end to his leadership role and maybe even his political career.
The five-term senator has been trying to keep up with his party’s leftward drift. He has made a few less-than-convincing efforts to play the rabble-rouser at staged public protests against the Trump agenda – both recently and during Trump’s first White House term. But he is neither young nor cool, and that seems to be what Democrats are aiming for these days. Gov. Tim Walz also tried to pull off that act on the campaign trail as Kamala Harris’ running mate. Clearly, few were buying it, with predictable results.
Beginning of the End
The fall of Chuck Schumer began in March when he backed a continuing resolution that congressional Republicans negotiated with President Trump to avoid a government shutdown. After the vote, Trump took a victory lap and even praised Schumer for his last-minute support.
For the rising progressive disruptors, no cooperation with Trump is acceptable. Although it seemed clear that, this time around, Democrats wouldn’t be able to pass the blame for a shutdown, Schumer’s decision was seen as something of a betrayal.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has announced her intention to challenge Schumer in 2028, and as things stand, she is in a strong position to deal Senate Democrats’ top dog a primary defeat. A late-March Data for Progress survey of more than 31,700 likely New York Democratic primary voters put AOC at 55% and Schumer at just 36%.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive congressman from California, told CNN’s Dana Bash during a March appearance on the network that several House Democrats encouraged Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Schumer in the next general election. “When a company isn’t doing well you don’t keep the same team,” Khanna observed, without saying whether he was one of the Democrats he claims are backing AOC.
Schumer Touts His Judges
The growing rift within the Democratic Party – and the threat to the old guard – is not lost on senior elected officials, including Schumer. Perhaps attempting to maintain his standing, the senator from New York is touting the avalanche of legal obstructions to the Trump agenda.
Since Inauguration Day, almost every action taken by the Trump administration has met a legal challenge, and almost every one lands on the desk of a judge appointed by either Barack Obama or Joe Biden. With a few exceptions, these judges have issued some form of injunction to stop or delay the administration’s moves. It’s judicial activism on steroids, and Schumer is taking the credit. Appearing on PBS recently, the senator said the quiet part out loud – to borrow a now-popular turn of phrase. He admitted that the furious pace of appointing federal judges while he, Schumer, led the Senate during the Biden administration was driven by the Democrats’ desire to block Trump at every turn.
"We did put 235 judges, progressive judges, judges not under the control of Trump, last year on the bench, and they are ruling against Trump time after time after time,” Schumer told PBS News Hour’s Geoff Bennett.
Still, Schumer’s part in attempting to hijack the district and appellate court system to thwart the current president may not be enough to save him. A new Siena College survey gives Schumer a 39% favorability rating against an unfavorable rating of 49%. It is the first time this poll has shown a net unfavorable score for Schumer – and 10 points underwater isn’t merely a bad week.
It seems all signs are pointing to a new dawn for the Democratic Party – but the old establishment will not be making it to breakfast. Schumer’s number two in the Senate, Dick Durbin (D-IL), announced on April 23 that he would not seek re-election after serving in the upper chamber for nearly three decades. His final term will end in January 2027, so he won’t be around when (or if) Schumer launches a re-election bid. It seems that Joe Biden and Donald Trump – between them but in very different ways – finally broke the old Democratic Party. No one is too sure what it will look like when the pieces are put back together.
