Democrat calls for Schumer’s removal over support of Republican funding bill

A Democratic congressman has become the first to publicly call for Chuck Schumer to step down as Senate minority leader, highlighting growing divisions within the party over how to confront and counter Donald Trump’s administration.

Glenn Ivey of Maryland told constituents on Tuesday that Schumer’s decision to allow a Republican funding bill to pass had surrendered crucial leverage against the administration.

“I respect Chuck Schumer. I think he had a great career,” Ivey said at a packed Maryland town hall. “But it may be time for Senate Democrats to get a new leader.”

The rebuke – met with applause at the meeting in Prince George’s county, home to thousands of federal workers bordering Washington DC – marks the first public demand from a Democratic lawmaker for Schumer’s removal.

Ivey’s callout adds to the deepening Democratic divisions over how to fight Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency”, which has in turn slashed thousands of federal jobs, and spurred courts to get involved. After Schumer’s Senate caucus fractured, Democrats – and their constituents – are arguing that the Senate minority leader surrendered a massive opportunity to resist these actions by allowing the Republican funding bill to pass through so easily.

But Ivey didn’t get off so easily either, and at one point the town hall turned on him, with attendees repeatedly interrupting the congressman to demand more aggressive action against Trump’s policies now, not during the 2026 midterm elections.

“You are talking about voting! People are losing their lives!” one woman screamed from the rafters. “It is not business as usual! You are too calm.”

Despite the growing dissent, the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, publicly backed Schumer on Tuesday, a notable shift after previously dodging questions about the Senate leader’s future. When asked last Friday if it was time for new Senate leadership, Jeffries had simply replied: “Next question”.

The two New York Democrats met on Sunday and released a joint statement on Tuesday morning, vowing to fight potential Medicaid cuts in Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill.

The former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, while saying she still supports Schumer, offered her own critique of his decision during a news conference in San Francisco.

“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” Pelosi told reporters. “We could have, in my view, perhaps, gotten them to agree to a third way.”

The New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of the most outspoken lawmakers admonishing Schumer, telling reporters in Leesburg, Virginia, last week that she had mobilized Democratic supporters against what she called an “acquiesce” to the GOP bill.

“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people,” she said. “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think, is a huge slap in the face.”

The Democratic failure has elevated Ocasio-Cortez’s profile, with a CNN survey released on Sunday showing she narrowly leads her party when asked which political leader “best reflects the core values of the Democratic party”.

Schumer defended his decision during a Tuesday appearance on The View, facing particularly pointed criticism from co-host Sunny Hostin.

“It gives me no pleasure to say this to you because we are friends but I think you caved,” Hostin told the Senate minority leader. “I think you and nine other Democrats caved and didn’t show the fight this party needs right now because you’re playing by a rule book where the other party has thrown that rule book away.”

Schumer insisted: “No one wants to fight more than me and no one fights more than me,” arguing that while the bill “was bad”, it would do “far less damage” to the social safety net than a government shutdown.

“I want to fight, and we are fighting. We are going to fight every day on this – every day,” he said. “I understand we want to stick it to them. We’re going to stick it to them and fight smart and win.”