Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has to go. That’s the conclusion of multiple Democratic groups, House members, and candidates after Schumer oversaw his caucus implode ahead of passing a continuing resolution to fund the government with nothing more than a meaningless promise on the Affordable Care Act subsidies. Preserving health care was the whole point of the government shutdown; Democrats and workers nationwide begged Schumer to hold the line. Now, they say he has disappointed them for the last time.
No Senate Democrats have joined their colleagues in seeking Schumer’s resignation and none responded to requests for comment from the Prospect. But every single one of them has the power to force a vote on Schumer’s continued control of the caucus. If they wanted to, one of Schumer’s colleagues could bring forward a motion to amend the Democratic Caucus Rules to say that he should lose his leadership position if a set number of members disapprove of him. The motion would be “self-executing,” resulting in Schumer’s removal at the same time that it’s approved.
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“Most Senate experts would say it’s highly unlikely,” said Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute, who wrote about how to push Schumer out in March, the last time he blinked and enabled a government funding bill that President Trump promptly violated. “But if the members are really pissed off, this is a mechanism they have.”
Under the Rules for the Democratic Conference, members can make rule amendments by submitting proposals directly to the conference for consideration, with one week of notice, Schuman said.
The language comes toward the bottom of the rules in Section 14, which is titled “Committee on Conference Rules,” referring to an internal committee of senators who set the standards for the Democratic caucus. It states that committee members, whose names are not made public, will review the rules each Congress, “and may recommend changes to the Rules as the need arises.”
It also states that “Individual Members of the Conference may bring proposed changes in the Rules to the Committee on Conference Rules or directly to the Conference for its consideration, providing Members of the Conference with the text of the proposed changes to the Conference Rules at least one week before Conference consideration. In either instance, the Members proposing the changes shall retain sole discretion on the wording of such changes.”
What this means is that any member of the Senate Democratic caucus can bring a challenge to Schumer’s continued leadership up for a vote. They would only need a majority of the caucus, or 24 of the 47 members, in order for the vote to succeed.
Such a motion would probably prompt Schumer to leave before it came to a vote, Schuman added. “If you had a bunch of members who signed on to something like this, you’d probably see people step aside rather than be kicked out.”
The Prospect asked every senator, except for those who negotiated and voted for the continuing resolution, if they would bring a motion to remove Schumer or support one brought by a colleague. None responded. The silence reflects what Schuman calls a “very clubby” body of electeds; he noted that no one has ever tried to use caucus rules to oust a leader.
Among the senators excluded from the outreach were Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who reportedly negotiated the continuing resolution. None can be primaried next year; King and Hassan are serving terms that run until January of 2031 and 2029, respectively, and Shaheen is retiring.
Multiple Democratic House members have called for Schumer to step down from his leadership position, including Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Mike Levin (D-CA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Democrats in other positions across the country have criticized the capitulation, including the governors of California and New York, Gavin Newsom and Kathy Hochul, and the mayor-elect of New York City, Zohran Mamdani.
Immediately after Democratic senators folded, the progressive movement Indivisible launched what it said was the largest primary campaign it has ever run since forming almost a decade ago. “We need you in the fight for a stronger, better Democratic Party willing to defend our communities, our rights, and our democracy from the fascist threat of the Trump regime,” the group said on its sign-up page. It called on everyone who is “fed up with being failed by our leaders again and again” and wants to “elect the fighters we need in this moment.”
MoveOn, Our Revolution, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee also have called on Schumer to resign.
Several candidates seeking to win a seat in the U.S. Senate have criticized Schumer and called for him to resign, including Graham Platner in Maine, Zach Wahls and Nathan Sage in Iowa, and Seth Moulton in Massachusetts. None of them are candidates that Schumer is backing in primary elections next year.
Even Shaheen’s daughter is angry. Stefany Shaheen, a congressional candidate for New Hampshire, said in a statement posted to social media that any continuing resolution must fund the Obamacare tax subsidies that will expire at the end of next month. “Otherwise, no deal.”
Schuman said that barring a rule change that would remove Schumer, the other options Democratic senators have to kick him out are soft measures. Senators can write public or nonpublic letters, they can shout at each other, or they can give a speech on the floor. They can also discuss Schumer’s failure in campaign advertisements, or keep it in their back pocket and try to use it as leverage in the future. Other than that, the rules include no specific provision for removal of a leader unless they’re convicted of a felony.