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alexandria ocasio-cortez
AOC to Join Western Stops of Sanders 'Fighting Oligarchy' Tour
"While Republicans try to gut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, people across the country are standing up against these attacks on the working class," the congresswoman said.
Mar 16, 2025
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is set to join five stops of Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Fighting Oligarchy" tour this week.
Sanders (I-Vt.), who mobilized working-class voters nationwide during his 2016 and 2020 runs for the Democratic presidential nomination, launched the tour in the Midwest last month. Thousands of people have attended his events in cities across Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
"Today, the oligarchs and the billionaire class are getting richer and richer and have more and more power," Sanders said in a Friday statement. "Meanwhile, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and most of our people are struggling to pay for healthcare, childcare, and housing. This country belongs to all of us, not just the few. We must fight back."
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) are set to join the senator on Thursday, March 20 at the East Las Vegas Community Center, for an event scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm local time. From there, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders plan to head to Arizona State University in Tempe for a 6:00 pm stop.
The pair has two more events on Friday: A 1:00 stop at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and a 5:00 pm stop at Civic Center Park in Denver. They are slated to wrap up the trip on Saturday with Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) at an 11:30 am event at Catalina High School in Tucson, Arizona.
"While Republicans try to gut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, people across the country are standing up against these attacks on the working class," said Ocasio-Cortez. "They deserve representation that is willing to stand with them. I look forward to hitting the road with Sen. Sanders."
Since Sanders announced the new tour stops and guests on Friday, Republicans and a handful of Democrats on Capitol Hill have given them some new developments to discuss on the road. Ahead of a potential government shutdown on Friday, 10 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus—including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—helped GOP senators advance a stopgap measure that critics warn will further empower President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's attacks.
Schumer's "gutless" handling of the situation sparked calls for him to step down as Senate minority leader and for Ocasio-Cortez to launch a primary challenge against him in the 2028 cycle—something the congresswoman has not ruled out.
As the Senate was sending the stopgap bill to the president's desk, Trump was at the U.S. Department of Justice, delivering a speech that sparked widespread alarm. As Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program and an adviser at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, summarized, he "sought to undermine faith in our judicial system, attacked lawyers who support due process and the rule of law, and made it clear that he expects the attorney general and other leaders to use the full force and resources of the Justice Department to roll back our civil and human rights, target his enemies, and operationalize a worldview that perpetuates white supremacy."
On Saturday, Trump bombed Yemen and revealed that he was invoking the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. The 1798 law was used during World War II to force thousands of people of mostly German, Italian, and Japanese descent into internment camps.
Meanwhile, Sanders wrote in a Saturday email to supporters that from the tour stops so far, "what I have found is that in these districts, and all across the country, Americans are saying loudly and clearly: NO to oligarchy, NO to authoritarianism, NO to kleptocracy, NO to massive cuts in programs that working people desperately need, NO to huge tax breaks for the richest people in our country."
"There must be meetings and rallies in all 50 states, and they should take place over and over again. And when those rallies are over, we need to organize the people who attend to mobilize in their communities and be in touch with their members of Congress. But that is not all," he wrote. "We need progressives to run for office at all levels. I am talking about school boards, city councils, state legislature, and the races that are not in the news but make a tremendous difference in local communities."
"We need to build community and bring people together even when it isn't about politics first. The Republican Party is always trying to divide us up based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and more... we need to come together as one," he continued. "We need to elect a U.S. House and a U.S. Senate that will prioritize the needs of the working people in this country."
Sanders concluded that "we need to be looking for new and creative ways to educate each other in a world where nearly the entire media and communications infrastructure is owned and controlled by the wealthiest people in this country. If there was ever a time in American history when we need to come together, this is that time."
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'Schumer Must Resign' as Senate Dem Leader After Helping Advance GOP Spending Bill
"Sen. Schumer has capitulated to Trump, Musk, and all the Republicans in Congress hell-bent on attacking our Constitution and dismantling the federal government," said one advocacy leader.
Mar 14, 2025
Calls for U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to resign from his leadership post escalated on Friday after the New Yorker led nine other members of the Democratic caucus in helping Republicans advance a GOP stopgap funding bill to a final vote.
Those who stood with Schumer and Republicans for the 62-38 procedural vote—which required at least yes 60 votes—are Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine as well as Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), John Fetterman (Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.).
The Democrats agreed to invoke cloture on the continuing resolution (CR) in exchange for considering four amendments to it. Republican senators then swiftly rejected Sen. Jeff Merkley's (D-Ore.) amendment to restore Internal Revenue Service funding, Sen. Tammy Duckworth's (D-Ill.) amendment to rehire fired military veteran federal employees, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen's (D-Md.) amendment to eliminate DOGE.
A bipartisan majority also defeated Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) amendment to codify DOGE cuts to United States Agency for International Development and foreign aid into law. Senators then passed the stopgap bill, H.R. 1968; the 54-46 vote was mostly along party lines, with Shaheen and King voting yes, and Paul voting no. President Donald Trump is expected to sign it.
Rollover and play dead wins. I'm honestly really sorry everyone. This is a bad, depressing outcome. We tried our best, and we didn't succeed. We're circling up with Indivisible group leaders over the next day to plan for what accountability will look like. Stay tuned.
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— Ezra Levin ( @ezralevin.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 5:43 PM
While Schumer has tried to argue that averting a midnight government shutdown with the bill was the best available option, critics across the country—including other elected Democrats—have warned that the stopgap measure will further embolden Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, head of the president's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as they take a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy.
"In handing over the votes necessary for this terrible budget bill to become law, Sen. Schumer has capitulated to Trump, Musk, and all the Republicans in Congress hell-bent on attacking our Constitution and dismantling the federal government," Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said in a Friday statement. "Schumer has lost the confidence of a critical mass of well-meaning people around the country. He must step down from his leadership role in the Senate now, so a sufficiently determined resistance to the disastrous Trump-Musk agenda can be allowed to rise up and act before it's too late."
Hauter wasn't alone in declaring that "Schumer must resign" after caving to Trump and congressional Republicans on the CR, which funds the government through the end of September. Human rights lawyer and former Democratic congressional candidate Qasim Rashid published a Friday blog post titled, "Chuck Schumer Must Resign & Democrats Must Change or Risk Abandonment."
"Let's be clear: MAGAs control the House, the Senate, and the White House. The Democratic Party is not in its strongest position, and every single day Trump and Musk are working to gut democracy, attack working families, and consolidate power," Rashid wrote. "And yet, when given the opportunity to use the one piece [of] leverage Democrats have—forcing Republicans to own the government shutdown—Schumer is folding like a cardboard box in a rainstorm."
"This isn't just betrayal. It's utter incompetence," he added. "We don't need more politicians holding tiny signs and coordinating outfits while Trump consolidates power and enables fascism. We need leadership with the courage to fight injustice and hold the line when it matters."
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the youth-led, climate-focused Sunrise Movement, declared that "today was a spectacular display of cowardice from Sen. Schumer. This morning, Chuck Schumer arrested 11 young people at his office rather than look them in the eye. This afternoon, he gave Elon Musk the keys to the government."
"Donald Trump and Elon Musk are hurtling our country toward disaster. They are gutting our education system, enabling oil billionaires to burn the planet, and destroying vital government programs that millions rely on," Shiney-Ajay continued. "Young people are fighting back. We're showing up to Republican congressional town halls. We're protesting at federal buildings and state capitals. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer sits on the sidelines."
"The budget is one of the only pieces of leverage Democrats have, and Schumer just gave it away. That's incredibly reckless. It's the opposite of what we need from Democratic leaders right now," she added. "Chuck Schumer needs to step aside. Our democracy and our climate and our families can't afford even another month of this bullshit."
Along with calling for Schumer to step down from leadership immediately, some critics now also want him out of the Senate. In the lead-up to Friday's procedural vote, even some centrist House Democrats were reportedly
urging progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to launch a primary challenge against Schumer for the 2028 cycle.
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Calls for AOC to Primary Schumer Mount After 'Gutless' Surrender
"Schumer should step down from Democratic leadership—or be forced out—and let someone actually willing to fight Trump and Musk take his place."
Mar 14, 2025
The Democratic Party erupted in anger late Thursday after its longtime Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, capitulated to Republicans on a government funding package that would slash critical programs and bolster the Trump administration's lawless assault on federal agencies.
The fury wasn't limited to the party's progressive wing, which was predictably incensed by Schumer's (D-N.Y.) announcement that he and a sufficient number of other Democrats would vote in favor of advancing the GOP bill to avert a government shutdown.
According toAxios, even centrist Democrats were among those "voicing support for a primary challenge" against Schumer, with members floating Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) as possible 2028 candidates against the minority leader.
"One lawmaker even vowed at the House Democratic retreat to 'write a check tonight' supporting Ocasio-Cortez," the outlet noted, citing an unnamed senior House Democrat.
CNN similarly reported that House Democrats—who, with the exception of Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, unified against the Republican funding package—"are so infuriated with Schumer's decision that some have begun encouraging [Ocasio-Cortez] to run against Schumer."
"Multiple Democrats in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and others directly encouraged Ocasio-Cortez to run on Thursday night after Schumer's announcement," said one unnamed lawmaker, who told CNN that party members were "so mad" at the Senate leader that even centrists were "ready to write checks for AOC for Senate."
Ocasio-Cortez, who called Schumer's reversal on the Republican funding bill "a huge slap in the face," said amid the mounting primary calls that she's focused on mobilizing against the GOP measure in a last-ditch attempt to sink it.
"We still have an opportunity to correct course here, and that is my number one priority," the New York progressive told CNN. "I think there is a wide sense of betrayal if things proceed as currently planned."
A vote on the Republican bill is expected later Friday ahead of a looming government shutdown.
With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to break ranks, the Senate GOP needs at least eight Democratic supporters to advance the legislation to a final vote.
Opponents of the GOP measure, including the largest union of federal workers in the country, argued that President Donald Trump and unelected billionaire Elon Musk are already effectively shutting the government down by eviscerating entire departments.
"Instead of forcing Republicans to own their extremism, Schumer gave away one of the only pieces of leverage Democrats had before 2026," wrote Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid. "This wasn't about whether a shutdown was risk-free—no fight ever is. It was about whether Democrats were willing to impose a cost on their opponents for governing through blackmail. Instead, Schumer made the kind of move that tells Republicans they can keep pushing."
Justice Democrats, a progressive group that helped Ocasio-Cortez upset a top House Democrat in a 2018 primary, said Thursday that the "corporate Democratic leadership is all talk and no fight."
"Gutless, spineless, and utterly unqualified to lead," the group added. "Schumer should step down from Democratic leadership—or be forced out—and let someone actually willing to fight Trump and Musk take his place."
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