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senate democrats
'We Want You to Show Fight': Dems Get an Earful at Town Halls as Spending Bill Fallout Continues
A group of youth-led organizations released an open letter calling on Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York "to fight for our generation or step aside for someone who will."
Mar 20, 2025
The fallout from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's decision to back a GOP-backed spending bill continued this week as Democratic lawmakers faced angry constituents at town halls around the country and a group of youth-led organizations on Thursday released an open letter calling on Schumer "to fight for our generation or step aside for someone who will."
Last week, Schumer (D-N.Y.) caused a stir when he pivoted to support a Republican-led continuing resolution that cuts nondefense spending by $13 billion, among other objections from Democrats. The pivot—for which he was joined by nine other caucus members—drew sharp backlash, including from House Democrats, who had largely been united in opposing the measure when it cleared that chamber on March 11.
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), who held a town hall in a suburb outside of Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night, drew applause when he suggested that Schumer should step aside as minority leader. "I respect Chuck Schumer. I think he's had a great, long-standing career. He's done a lot of great things, but I'm afraid that it may be time for the Senate Democrats to pick new leadership as we move forward," Ivey said, perNBC News.
However, Ivey still faced some testy interactions with constituents about how Democrats will respond to President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, according to NBC News.
"We need to see 'hell no,' one person told Ivey. "And thank you for being polite with us, but when it comes to fighting these fights, we need you to be a little bit less polite, a little bit more hell no, instead of a little bit no."
"We want you to show fight, and you are not fighting," said another attendee, according to footage captured by CNN. "The message that was sent by Democrats in Congress with the [continuing resolution] catastrophe was clear. It's not that you're in the minority, it's that you aren't even working together on a shared strategy," the person said, prompting applause from the audience.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego held a town hall on Monday in order to talk to constituents about potential cuts to Medicaid—but multiple people at the town hall aired their concerns that Democrats do no have a plan to push back on Republicans who go after the program, according to the local outlet ABC15.
"We're trying to shield to ourselves before we're wounded and we don't know how," said one attendee, who shared that she has a daughter with special needs who relies on Medicaid, per ABC15 Arizona. "Would you mind telling your colleagues in Washington that when you're burning down this house, there are people still inside, my daughter is inside?"
Another person at the town hall in Arizona said he wants more action and less talk from Democrats, and that he would like to see Schumer step down from his role as minority leader.
In Oregon, perPolitico, a town hall goer told Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Janelle Bynum on Sunday that he is "so pissed off right now at the leadership in the United States Senate that they are not willing to step up and fight."
GOP lawmakers, for their part, have also faced angry crowds at town halls, with constituents showing up to express concerns about Trump's efforts to slash federal programs and personnel.
The dissatisfaction with Democratic Senate leadership and pleas to do more were echoed in the open letter from youth-led groups.
In a statement on Thursday accompanying the letter, Sohali Vaddula, vice president of College Democrats of America, said that the groups "demand that Democrats stand up for their values and push back against Republican extremism—not enable it."
In addition to College Democrats of America, the open letter to Schumer was also sent from the groups Sunrise Movement, Gen Z Against Trump, United We Dream Action, and Voters of Tomorrow.
The groups urged Democrats to prove they are on their "side" by meeting with their communities and showing up to protests. They also want Democrats to "obstruct the MAGA agenda" in any way possible.
"Use every tool available—filibusters, procedural delays, and strategic disruptions. If Republicans want to destroy our future, make them feel the consequences of their actions," they urged.
"Democrats, this is your wake-up call," they wrote in conclusion. "If you refuse to fight for our future, we will find leaders who will. The choice is yours."
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'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 the 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...
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— 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."
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Tell Your Senators: Don’t Give Trump and Musk a Blank Check to Continue Their Pillage
Why should any member of Congress vote in favor of a continuing resolution to fund government services that are no longer continuing?
Mar 12, 2025
Yesterday, the U.S. House passed legislation to fund the government through September 30 and thereby avert a shutdown at the end of this week.
The measure now goes to the Senate, where Democrats must decide whether to support it and thereby hand President Donald Trump and Elon Musk a blank check to continue their assault on the federal government.
The House bill would keep last year’s spending levels largely flat but would increase spending for the military by $6 billion and cut more than $1 billion from the District of Columbia’s budget.
Today’s real choice is between a continuing resolution that gives Trump and Musk free rein to decide what government services they want to continue and what services they want to shut down—or demanding that Trump and Musk stop usurping the power of Congress, as a condition for keeping the government funded.
In normal times, I recommend that Democrats vote for continuing budget resolutions because Democrats support the vital services that the government provides to the American people—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans services, education, the Food and Drug Administration, environmental protection, and much else.
In normal times, Democrats want to keep the government open.
In normal times, Democrats would be wrong to vote against a continuing resolution that caused the government to shut down.
But these are not normal times.
The president of the United States and the richest person in the world are already shutting the government down. They have effectively closed USAID and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. They have sent half the personnel of the Department of Education packing. They are eliminating Environmental Protection Agency offices responsible for addressing high levels of pollution facing poor communities.
They are usurping from Congress the power of the purse—the power to decide what services are to be funded and received by the American people—and are arrogating that power to themselves.
In 1996, when I was in then-President Bill Clinton’s cabinet, we opposed Newt Gingrich’s budget bullying. We also understood that Gingrich’s demands would seriously cripple the federal government. So Bill Clinton refused to go along with Gingrich’s budget resolution, and the government was shuttered for four long painful weeks..
Today’s situation is far worse. Trump and Musk aren’t just making demands that would cripple the federal government. They are directly crippling the federal government.
Why should any member of Congress vote in favor of a continuing resolution to fund government services that are no longer continuing?
Why should any member of Congress vote to give Trump and Musk a trillion dollars and then let them decide how to spend it—or not spend it?
Why should Congress give Trump and Musk a blank check to continue their pillage?
The real choice congressional Democrats face today is not between a continuing resolution that allows the government to function normally or a government shutdown. Under Trump and Musk, the government is not functioning normally. It is not continuing. It is already shutting down.
Today’s real choice is between a continuing resolution that gives Trump and Musk free rein to decide what government services they want to continue and what services they want to shut down—or demanding that Trump and Musk stop usurping the power of Congress, as a condition for keeping the government funded.
Trump, Musk, and the rest of their regime have made it clear that they don’t care what Congress or the courts say. They are acting unconstitutionally. They are actively destroying our system of government.
The spineless Republicans will not say this publicly. So Democrats must—and Democrats must insist on budget language that holds Trump and Musk accountable.
The House’s Republican-drafted budget resolution isn’t contingent on Trump observing existing laws. It does not instruct the president to stop Musk from riding roughshod over the federal government. It doesn’t tell the president and his cabinet to spend the money Congress intended to be spent.
Members of Trump’s team are already saying that if a continuing resolution is passed they will not observe laws that Congress has enacted and will not spend funds that Congress has authorized and appropriated. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for example, says that even if the State Department is fully funded, he will void 83% of the contracts authorized for USAID.
Senate Democrats are needed to obtain 60 votes needed to pass the House’s continuing budget resolution through the Senate. But there is no point in Democrats voting to fund the government only to let Trump and Musk do whatever they see fit with those funds.
Senate Democrats have an opportunity to stop Trump and Musk from their illegal and unconstitutional shutting of the government. Democrats should say they’ll vote for the continuing budget resolution to keep the government going only if Trump agrees to abide by the law and keep the government going—fully funding the services that Congress intends to be fully funded and stop the pillaging.
If Democrats set out this condition clearly but Trump won’t agree, the consequences will be on Trump and the Republicans. They run the government now. They are the ones who are engaging in, or are complicit in, the wanton destruction now taking place.
This is an opportunity for the public to learn what Trump and Musk are doing, and why it’s illegal and unconstitutional.
In 1996, when Bill Clinton refused to go along with Newt Gingrich’s plan to cripple the federal government, causing the government to shut down for a month, Clinton wasn’t blamed. Gingrich was blamed.
If you live in a state with a Democratic senator, please phone them right now and tell them not to vote for the continuing resolution that gives Trump and Musk free rein to continue shutting the government. The Capitol switchboard is (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.
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