Top Senate Democrat Schumer postpones book tour for 'security reasons'

By Gabriella Borter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer postponed book tour events for this week "for security reasons," according to an announcement posted on the website of the Baltimore library where he was due to speak on Monday.

Schumer has faced swift backlash from members of the Democratic Party since last week over his decision to support voting on a Republican stopgap spending bill that most Democratic lawmakers said gave President Donald Trump too much power.

A spokesperson for Schumer could not immediately be reached for comment.

Schumer had been due to speak at several events this week to promote his new book, "Antisemitism in America: A Warning."

On social media, activists had been encouraging protesters to attend his events this week to express anger at his decision to support the vote on the Republican spending bill, which passed on Friday, narrowly avoiding a midnight deadline to prevent a government shutdown.

Democrats largely opposed the bill, which will cut spending by about $7 billion and which they said does nothing to stop Trump's campaign to halt congressionally mandated spending and slash tens of thousands of jobs.

Many lawmakers felt Schumer gave away a rare piece of leverage Democrats had as the party in the minority. Republicans, who have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, needed some Democrats to join them to reach a 60-vote threshold to limit debate on the bill. Only then could the Senate vote on the bill itself, which required a simple majority to pass.

Schumer, who voted to advance the bill but did not vote yes on the bill itself, said a government shutdown would be a worst-case scenario.

House Democrats immediately criticized him, and in a stunning back-and-forth with reporters on Friday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to answer questions about whether he still had confidence in Schumer's leadership.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; editing by Andy Sullivan and Nick Zieminski)