Progressives held rallies outside U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s New York offices on Friday, demanding he step down as minority leader for Democrats joining Republicans in voting to reopen the federal government without a firm commitment to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Indivisible New York organized grassroots rallies at Schumer’s offices to protest what members said was his inability to unify the Democratic Caucus of the Senate and maintain the shutdown to avoid massive health insurance cost hikes for millions of Americans.
Liberal criticism of Schumer escalated in March after he accepted a six-month Republican bill to fund the government. While he opposed the current deal, that hasn’t stemmed the anger of members of his own party.
About a dozen people attended a rally in Central New York at the James Hanley Federal Building in downtown Syracuse, holding signs saying the senator from New York let them down and should step aside. Organizer Judy Jerome said participants were asking Schumer to relinquish the party’s post as leader of the Senate.
“We feel the giving in to the demands of the Republican Party lessened our position to negotiate, and that even though he voted no on the resolution, that he should be maintaining a no vote for all of his causes,” Jerome said. “We are here to send him a message that perhaps new leadership is needed.”
Days after scoring wins on Election Day, a group of Senate Democrats broke from the party to vote with members of the other side of the aisle to end the government shutdown, drawing fury from their colleagues. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives then passed the bill and President Donald Trump signed it to fund the government through Jan. 30.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) said on social media. “If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?”
The federal government’s closure lasted a record-long 43 days. Those who sided with Republicans say they were concerned about most federal workers going unpaid, the freezing of federal programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the growing number of flight cancellations and delays.
Thomas Keck, a member of Indivisible Onondaga County, said at the Syracuse rally that while Democrats were in a genuinely difficult situation with no great options, he was disappointed with how things turned out.
“We’re looking for more, more fight,” he said.
Regarding Schumer, Keck said, “We just want him to be doing better. I’m not convinced he’s doing everything he could possibly be doing.”
Another rally was scheduled for Friday morning at the Leo O’Brien Federal Building in downtown Albany.
Schumer, for now, appears to be surviving the crisis and has the support of his fellow Brooklynite, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
But some Democrats were uncomfortable with not receiving a firm pledge to address health care and the American Care Act in return for helping to end the shutdown.
“If we’re not here as a society, as a community, to provide health care for our citizens, who are we?” Jerome said. “We are a community of people that are in this together, and the ACA was a compromise when it was passed, but it helps millions of people.”