Chuck Schumer rejects calls to step down as Senate Democratic leader
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that he won't step aside as the chamber's top Democrat after criticism of his move to help pass a Republican funding bill.
WASHINGTON — A defiant Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that he won’t step aside as the chamber’s top Democrat, rejecting calls from some House colleagues and liberal advocates critical of his move to help pass a Republican funding bill.
“Look, I’m not stepping down,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a taped interview that aired Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Schumer told moderator Kristen Welker he knew there “would be a lot of controversy” when he cast his vote to prevent a shutdown. But he maintains that while the GOP’s six-month bill was “certainly bad,” a shutdown “would be 15 or 20 times worse.”
“Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power to determine what is ‘essential.’ And they can determine without any court supervision. The courts have ruled it’s solely up to the executive what to shut down,” he said, warning that the Trump administration “would eviscerate the federal government.”
“On Day 2, they could say, ‘Oh, SNAP? Feeding hungry children? Not essential.’ On Day 4, ‘Mass transit? All transit? Aid to the states? Not essential. We’re cutting it.’ On Day 6, ‘Medicaid? We’ll cut that by 20%, 30%, 50%, 80%. We’ll go after Social Security. We’ll go after the veterans.’ Their goal is to just eviscerate the federal government so they can give more taxes, and their tax cuts ... to their billionaire class over there,” he said.
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