Several House Democrats have privately called on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) to launch a primary challenge against Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer after he backed a Republican-led funding bill to avert a government shutdown.
Even centrist Democrats are outraged by Schumer’s decision, with some “so mad” that they are “ready to write checks for AOC for Senate,” according to a Democratic lawmaker who spoke with Ocasio-Cortez at House Democrats’ annual policy retreat Thursday evening, CNN reported.
Schumer had announced hours earlier on the Senate floor that he would vote to advance the GOP funding bill. “I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down,” Schumer told his colleagues, adding that “while the [House bill] is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse.”
The infighting comes as Democrats still struggle to regain their footing nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s second term. A recent poll of voters in 62 swing districts found that nearly 70 percent see congressional Democrats as “too focused on being politically correct” and that more than half of voters believe the Democratic Party is “elitist” and does not share their values.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted mostly along party lines to approve the funding bill to keep federal agencies running for the next six months. The bill will need the support of at least eight Senate Democrats to pass.
Ocasio-Cortez, who has declined to say whether she plans to run against Schumer, slammed Schumer’s move to “completely roll over and give up on protecting the Constitution” and vowed to mobilize Democrats against the bill.
“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters at the Thursday retreat. “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think, is a huge slap in the face. And I think there is a wide sense of betrayal if things proceed as currently planned.”