SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
afge
'People Will Not Forget': Fury as Schumer Caves to Trump-Musk Destruction
"Working people are done with performative solidarity," said Rep. Delia C. Ramirez in response. "Either you stand with us against the Republican CR, or you stand with the Musk-Trump authoritarian agenda."
Mar 13, 2025
Update (7:44 pm ET):
Despite loud opposition from constituents and progressive lawmakers against such a move, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York took to the Senate floor Thursday evening to announce he would vote to advance a Republican spending bill that critics say would "sacrifice the needs of working people at the altar of the ultra-wealthy" and greenlight further chaos and destruction by President Donald Trump and his Oligarch-in-Chief Elon Musk.
"The Republican bill is a terrible option," Schumer said in his remarks. "It is deeply partisan. It doesn't address far too many of this country's needs. But I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option."
Before his address on the Senate floor, Schumer had said the Senate Democrats would hold the line against the continuing resolution which Republicans in the House passed earlier this week. A procedural cloture vote for the resolution needs 60 votes for passage, and Schumer's acquiescence will likely open the door for other Democrats to follow. If cloture passes, the Democrats give away any leverage they had as the Republicans will only need a simple majority to pass the bill.
"Chuck Schumer caving and saying he’ll vote for a blank check for Trump and Musk is demonstrative of why Democrats lose," lamented progressive activist and writer Jonathan Cohn. "Voters so often don’t believe what they say because they don’t believe what they say."
Strikingly, progressives in the House—including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Schumer's fellow New Yorker—have been the most vocal in their opposition to the bill.
"Senate Democrats should not allow this chaos to continue," Ocasio-Cortez declared in a social media post following Schumer's u-turn on resolution. She urged constituents to keep fighting by putting pressure on their senators ahead of a vote that is now expected Friday. "Call your Senator and ask to vote NO on cloture and NO on the Republican spending bill."
"Respectfully Senator Schumer, no," replied Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). "This Republican bill is bad for workers, bad for our veterans, bad for our seniors. Republicans should pull it and let us get back to work crafting a budget that works for all of our families."
Earlier:
Reports on Thursday that Senate Democrats are considering capitulating to the GOP's disastrous government funding plan in exchange for a certain-to-fail vote on an alternative bill sparked anger among progressives, with one House Democrat warning that "people will not forget" if the minority party caves to Republicans and the Trump administration.
"Those games won't fool anyone," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote amid growing indications that Senate Democrats are preparing to help Republicans clear a key procedural hurdle in the way of their six-month funding legislation in exchange for a vote on a clean 30-day continuing resolution (CR).
"I hope Senate Democrats understand there is nothing clever about setting up a fake failed 30-day CR first to turn around and vote for cloture on the GOP spending bill," Ocasio-Cortez added. "It won't trick voters, it won't trick House members."
Sixty votes are required to invoke cloture and move to a vote on the Republican bill's final passage. The bill proposes $13 billion in cuts to non-military spending and imposes no constraints on the Trump administration or unelected billionaire Elon Musk as they eviscerate federal agencies and unlawfully withhold spending authorized by Congress.
With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to vote no, Republicans will need at least eight Democratic votes to invoke cloture. Final passage of the measure would only require simple-majority support.
"Do not cave. Vote no on cloture. Stand up for the American people like House Democrats did."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared in a floor speech Wednesday that "Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture" on the House-passed bill and said Democrats are "unified on a clean April 11th CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass."
Subsequent reporting and public comments from Senate Democrats soon made clear that they could still be willing to give Republicans the votes they need to pass their funding bill before the government shuts down at midnight on Friday.
CBS News states, "Senate Democrats are considering a plan that would pave the way for a GOP bill to keep the government funded for six months in exchange for a doomed-to-fail vote on their own 30-day alternative."
Politicoreported that Senate Democrats and Republicans "have made initial contact about a possible way out of the looming government shutdown." The outlet noted that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) "appeared open to allowing Democrats a chance to vote on an amendment for a 30-day stopgap as part of a larger agreement that would allow the Senate to pass" the GOP bill, which would fund the government through September.
Progressives were quick to warn Senate Democrats against adopting that plan.
"Getting a vote on a four-week clean continuing resolution is not the same as getting a clean continuing resolution," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote Thursday. "Do not cave. Vote no on cloture. Stand up for the American people like House Democrats did."
The progressive advocacy group Indivisible urged Americans to keep calling Democratic senators who are seen as possible yes votes on a Republican cloture motion.
Following Indivisible's social media post, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) announced that he would oppose the GOP measure. Kelly is also reportedly planning to oppose cloture.
🚨 We need you to call your Democratic senator ASAP if their name is on this list. Tell your senator you will have their back if they do the right thing and vote NO on the extreme MAGA spending bill that would give Trump more power to dismantle the federal government: indivisible.org/resource/cal...
[image or embed]
— Indivisible ( @indivisible.org) March 13, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Some Senate Democrats have been vocally agonizing over the possibility of being blamed for allowing a government shutdown, even though Republicans control both chambers of Congress and opted to advance a partisan funding bill rather than working with the minority party on a viable solution.
But in a letter to senators on Wednesday, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)—the nation's largest federal workers' union—stressed that this is not a typical shutdown fight.
"AFGE's position until this year has been that although continuing resolutions are far from ideal, they are better than an
outright government shutdown," wrote Everett Kelley, the union's president. "This year is different... The Trump administration has repeatedly demonstrated over the last seven weeks that it will not spend appropriated funds as the law dictates, including funds provided under the current continuing resolution that was enacted in December with AFGE's support."
Kelley went on to reject the notion that a vote against the GOP bill is a vote in favor of a shutdown, noting that Congress still has time to pass a short-term continuing resolution and that "we only find ourselves in the current predicament because of the Republican leadership's steadfast refusal to engage in sincere bipartisan negotiations on this or any issue since December."
"With thousands of federal workers either fired, placed on administrative leave, or at immediate risk of losing their jobs, AFGE members have concluded that a widespread government shutdown has been underway since January 20 and will continue to spread whether senators vote yes or no on H.R. 1968," Kelley wrote. "Under the current CR, federal workers are being treated no better than they will be if government funding ceases Friday night."
"Only a return to the negotiating table can prevent the government-wide debacle that we see every day," he added. "A yes vote on H.R. 1968 eliminates one of the last opportunities for Congress to assert any rights under Article I of the Constitution."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Dangerous Union-Busting': Trump Rescinds Collective Bargaining for Air Safety Union
"Let's be clear: This is the beginning, not the end, of the fight for Americans' fundamental rights to join a union," said one labor leader.
Mar 08, 2025
Labor advocates condemned Friday's announcement by the Trump administration that it will end collective bargaining for Transportation Safety Administration security officers, a move described by one union leader as an act of "dangerous union-busting ripped from the pages of Project 2025."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed in a statement Friday that collective bargaining for the TSA's security officers "constrained" the agency's chief mission of protecting transportation systems and keeping travelers safe, and that "eliminating collective bargaining removes bureaucratic hurdles that will strengthen workforce agility, enhance productivity and resiliency, while also jumpstarting innovation."
All the union leaders who supported Trump (like Sean O'Brien) should have to answer some painful questions about Trump rescinding collective bargaining rights for TSA agents.
[image or embed]
— Mike Nellis (@mikenellis.bsky.social) March 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
As Huffpost labor reporter Dave Jamieson explained:
Workers at TSA, which Congress created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, do not enjoy the same union rights as employees at most other federal agencies. Bargaining rights can essentially be extended or rescinded at the will of the administrator.
Those rights were introduced at TSA by former President Barack Obama and strengthened under former President Joe Biden. But now they are being tossed aside by Trump.
"Forty-seven thousands transportation security officers show up at over 400 airports across the country every single day to make sure our skies are safe for air travel," Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said in response to DHS announcement. "Many of them are veterans who went from serving their country in the armed forces to wearing a second uniform protecting the homeland and ensuring another terrorist attack like September 11 never happens again."
Kelley argued that President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "have violated these patriotic Americans' right to join a union in an unprovoked attack."
"They gave as a justification a completely fabricated claim about union officials—making clear this action has nothing to do with efficiency, safety, or homeland security," he said "This is merely a pretext for attacking the rights of regular working Americans across the country because they happen to belong to a union."
AFGE—which represents TSA security officers—has filed numerous lawsuits in a bid to thwart Trump administration efforts, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, to terminate thousands of federal workers and unilaterally shut down government agencies under the guise of improving outcomes.
"This is merely a pretext for attacking the rights of regular working Americans across the country because they happen to belong to a union."
"Our union has been out in front challenging this administration's unlawful actions targeting federal workers, both in the legal courts and in the court of public opinion," Kelley noted. "Now our TSA officers are paying the price with this clearly retaliatory action."
"Let's be clear: This is the beginning, not the end, of the fight for Americans' fundamental rights to join a union," Kelley stressed. "AFGE will not rest until the basic dignity and rights of the workers at TSA are acknowledged by the government once again."
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement: "TSA officers are the front-line defense at America's airports for the millions of families who travel by air each year. Canceling the collective bargaining agreement between TSA and its security officer workforce is dangerous union-busting ripped from the pages of Project 2025 that leaves the 47,000 officers who protect us without a voice."
"Through a union, TSA officers are empowered to improve work conditions and make air travel safer for passengers," Shuler added. "With this sweeping, illegal directive, the Trump administration is retaliating against unions for challenging its unlawful Department of Government Efficiency actions against America's federal workers in court."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Judge Lets Trump-Musk 'Fork in the Road' Worker Purge Proceed
"Today's ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants. But it's not the end of that fight," said one union leader.
Feb 12, 2025
After temporarily blocking a deadline for U.S. President Donald Trump's deferred resignation program to purge the federal workforce, a judge on Wednesday allowed the initiative to move forward, ruling that the labor unions challenging it lacked the standing to do so and the court didn't have jurisdiction over their claims.
District Judge George O'Toole Jr. initially halted the program's progress last Thursday, just hours before a deadline for federal workers to decide whether to take the "Fork in the Road" offer seemingly inspired by Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. The billionaire is now chairing Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which the president further empowered last Tuesday.
After a Monday hearing, O'Toole, a Boston-based appointee of former President Bill Clinton, issued Wednesday's five-page order declining to grant the unions' request for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction against the program—under which workers who resign supposedly could be put on leave and continue receiving pay through the end of September.
The case was filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFGE Local 3707, the National Association of Government Employees, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
"Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program."
"Today's ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants. But it's not the end of that fight," AFGE national president Everett Kelley said in a Wednesday statement. "AFGE's lawyers are evaluating the decision and assessing next steps."
"Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program," Kelley stressed. "We continue to maintain it is illegal to force American citizens who have dedicated their careers to public service to make a decision, in a few short days, without adequate information, about whether to uproot their families and leave their careers for what amounts to an unfunded IOU from Elon Musk."
AFSCME president Lee Saunders similarly said that his organization "and our partners remain committed to stopping this illegal attack on the freedoms of public service workers. It is critical that we act swiftly to protect working people against the billionaires who want to take our power and block us from serving our communities. Today may be a step back, but we won't back down."
Government Executivereported Wednesday that the Trump administration "said Monday that 65,000 employees had accepted the deferred resignation offer thus far" and the Office of Personnel Management, the federal human resources agency, "did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding what the new deadline would be."
The outlet also noted that "around the same time that O'Toole issued his decision, a new lawsuit brought in Washington, D.C., by a union for Treasury Department employees asked a judge to declare the deferred resignation program illegal."
Trump and Musk's sweeping attacks on the government since the Republican returned to the White House last month have been partly thwarted by the federal judiciary—leading to concerns that the administration will simply defy court orders.
Even before Wednesday's rare court victory in the "fork" fight, Trump on Tuesday continued his push to overhaul the federal workforce with an executive order directing leaders of nonmilitary federal agencies to develop hiring plans with DOGE.
The unions behind the case before O'Toole also criticized that order. Kelley said that "firing huge numbers of federal employees won't decrease the need for government services... It will just make those services harder or impossible to access for everyday Americans, veterans, and seniors who depend on them."
"Americans just want government to work when they need it," the AFGE leader stressed. "These reckless, unjustified cuts will accomplish only two things: huge tax cuts for Musk and Trump's billionaire buddies and a broken government for the rest of us."
AFSCME's Saunders said: "It is unsurprising that an administration run by billionaires is eliminating oversight and firing dedicated federal workers. They know federal workers protect the public against corporate abuse and won't allow them to use taxpayer dollars as their own personal slush fund."
"So, instead of trying to improve the lives of working people, they are creating a staffing crisis in the public service that hurts children, seniors, people with disabilities, working people, and those most vulnerable," Saunders added. "We won't stand for it, and we will keep fighting back."
This article has been updated with additional comment from AFSCME.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular