Democrats are fed up with Schumer. Plus, how do voters feel about Musk?
Chuck Schumer insists he’s not stepping down as Senate minority leader, despite growing calls for him to do just that. And while other top Democrats, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, may still support him, voters sure don’t.
A new survey from The Economist/YouGov finds that Schumer is the only congressional leader whose job approval rating is underwater with his party’s voters: 40% of Democrats approve of his performance, while 44% disapprove.
Compare that with Jeffries: 54% of Democrats approve of how he’s doing his job, while just 22% disapprove. And like Jeffries, the two GOP leaders—House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune—both have net-positive job approval ratings from Republicans.
Schumer is the odd man out. Voters like their party's leaders, with one exception The share of Democrats and Republicans who approve or disapprove of their own party's congressional leadership
% of own party that approves % of own party that disapproves Net Mike Johnson (R, House) 71% 10% +61 John Thune (R, Senate) 58% 10% +48 Hakeem Jeffries (D, House) 54% 22% +32 Chuck Schumer (D, Senate) 40% 44% -4 Voters like their party's leaders, with one exception
This anti-Schumer sentiment could be part of a bigger trend—and a bigger trouble for congressional Democrats.
Latta's info, in fact, supports the limited court access position i've posted here. The two weeks (Latta said about 10 days) normal activity then after appropriated money runs out non-essential civil cases take a back seat. Or indefinitely delayed. So anti-DOGE cases could in a longer than normal shutdown face long delay. Musk and Trump would have salivated over that.
Also, should add, holding certainty where certainty does not exist is not always the wisest position to take. Just saying, pardner, we will never know for certain. It is too bad we will never know in absolute certainty which would have been the best path to take. You guys could be right, then again maybe not. There should be no certainty there on either side.
I still believe though that the evidence, the actual facts on the matter lean to Schumer's position, and am guessing there are many more than we know of who agree with him. Noted that more also includes Democrat Congresspeople ..
Furthermore, Schumer was likely honoring the wishes of members who wanted him to save them from themselves. Punchbowl reported Monday that “based on our conversations with Democratic senators, many more Senate Democrats than just the nine who voted with Schumer agreed with his ultimate decision.” This is a familiar strategy in Washington, known as “vote no, hope yes.” Leadership can be a lonely job when tough decisions like this one are required. After all, a leader with no followers is just a guy taking a walk.
To be clear, Schumer’s handling of this situation was not perfect. First, if he intended to fold, he should have done so sooner and not raised expectations of fighting the House-passed GOP funding bill. Second, congressional Democrats failed to articulate clearly what they even wanted in the bill, which muddled their message. Third, Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries were not coordinated in their negotiating strategy with congressional Republicans.
But had Schumer chosen to fight, Democrats would likely have shouldered at least part of, if not most, of the blame for what could have been a protracted, painful shutdown. The bottom line is Senate Democrats were in a terrible, no-win position. The choice was to fight and shut down the government, or fold and find better ground for another day. Schumer, smartly but painfully, chose the latter. He made the right choice and took one for the team.
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