Sen. Chuck Schumer Sold Us Out With His Vote

Kayla Bartkowski

In what can only be called the biggest betrayal since Fredo sold out Michael in the “Godfather II,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted in support of a partisan spending bill that will keep the government open, but will also get the ball rolling for President Trump and Elon Musk to begin directing funds wherever they see fit. 

CNN reports:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and nine others voted to advance the House-passed spending bill to a final vote, with President Donald Trump himself praising Schumer for the move. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against advancing the measure that would fund the government through September 30.

Outside of Schumer’s leadership team, many Senate Democrats as well as House Democrats are seething at the move, which they see as a capitulation in the party’s first real leverage point in Trump’s second term.

Schumer took to the Senate floor to claim that by preventing a government shutdown, he also stops Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (which is not a real department but goes by the acronym, DOGE) folks from shutting down more federal programs while no one’s at home. 

The Democrat issue —and the one I think most Americans who believe in righteousness and rebellion — is at some point, Democrats have to stop allowing themselves to be bullied. Fight Back. Do something other than just wholeheartedly voting for a bill when we all know it’s trash.

At least optically, it’s bizarre to see Schumer so eager to kiss the ring, while simultaneously acknowledging that the bill is one-sided. House Republicans didn’t reach out to Dems; this bill was crafted specifically by Republicans and for Republicans.  

“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal and this is not just progressive Democrats — this is across the board, the entire party,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters, NPR reports.

“I think it is a huge slap in the face,” she said.

If Schumer is having trouble realizing what side he’s on, just know that Trump took to Truth Social to praise the Senate Minority Leader. 

“A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,” wrote the president. “Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. “Took ‘guts’ and courage!” Trump added.

That alone should’ve been enough for Schumer to rethink his steps, but unfortunateely, that would require someone with a sense of reflection and concern for saving democracy, and I’m not sure after seeing this photo that Schumer cares anymore. 

Source: Anadolu / Getty

Just read this description from a transportation meeting where the photo was taken: 

“He and Chuck – both of them would interrupt each other at times – and they’d go back and forth and Chuck would say something and smile and the President would look at him and smile,” Rep. Pete King told CNN: “This went on for the whole – let’s say the meeting was around 40 minutes or so? It was almost like a love-in at times.”

What would’ve taken “guts and courage” would’ve been for Schumer to stand strong in the Democratic belief that the bill was flaming hot garbage and wait for the people to rebel. And believe me, have a government worker miss their paycheck, or a senior citizen miss a Social Security payment and all hell would’ve broken loose as Democrats could’ve stood up to Trump. 

House Democrats had already banded together to vote against the GOP spending bill that would “boost defense spending by $6 billion compared to fiscal year 2024 and decrease nondefense spending by $13 billion,” CNN reports. And the hope was that the Senate would follow suit. Unfortunately, Schumer said, “Nah, fam.”

Source: Alex Wong / Getty

Here’s how CNN explains the $13 billion in non-defense spending which Republicans are calling a savings:

The $13 billion decrease in nondefense spending…would stem from the removal of projects or one-time initiatives funded by lawmakers, known as earmarks, in fiscal year 2024, according to a House Appropriations Committee spokesperson. The measure would not affect the money directed to these projects in the last fiscal year, but it would not repeat the funding for the same projects. No earmarks are included in the continuing resolution.

It won’t just keep the government open; it will cut support for research on fetal alcohol syndrome, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s at the National Institute of Health. It will also give Trump and Musk the right to allocate funds to his friends and continue to punish those who don’t support his presidency. Make no mistake about it; Trump and his friends wrote this bill, and without any changes, Schumer gave it his full support. 

“I think they’re going to rue the day they made this decision,” New York Rep. Joe Morelle, a member of the centrist New Democrat coalition, told  NPR. 

“Voting against the CR after you vote to allow the bill on the floor, which is what I assume some of them are trying to be too clever in doing,” Morelle said. “Frankly, now I think this just gives license to Republicans to continue to dismantle the government. They now have the acquiescence of Senate Democrats.”

Ocasio-Cortez added that there is still time to course-correct. 

“A shutdown is not inevitable,” she said. “We can pass a 30-day clean extension to allow Republicans to negotiate with Democrats in order for us to have a functioning government.”

New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez told NPR that Democrats have to start fighting back. 

“This is not a time to have a lack of clarity and lack of purpose. This is a time to be decisive about what you’re going to do,” he said.

“Show the American people that we’re going to stand up and fight for them in one of the very few opportunities that Democrats have to gain leverage over this administration.”

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