A growing number of lawmakers, candidates, and activists are demanding new Democratic leadership after eight senators joined Republicans to reopen the government, leaving Affordable Care Act protections and Medicaid funding untouched.
Progressive organizers, lawmakers, and advocacy groups are calling for sweeping leadership changes inside the Democratic Party after eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus voted with Republicans to end the government shutdown without winning any healthcare concessions. The Sunday night vote reopened the government but left key funding for the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid unrecovered, prompting accusations that the party’s leadership had abandoned its leverage and the working Americans most affected by the cuts.
“The only silver lining about this completely pointless, cowardly, and tone-deaf cave is that it’ll accelerate the complete overhaul of the leadership—and god willing, direction—of the Democratic Party,” said Adam Carlson of Zenith Research.
The senators who voted with Republicans were Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Angus King of Maine, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. None are up for reelection next year.
Progressive group Indivisible responded by calling for primaries against the Democrats who supported the deal and for a change in party leadership. “We want to celebrate a Democratic Party that fights back,” the organization said. “But after this latest surrender, the next step is primaries and new leadership. We get the party we demand, and we intend to demand one that fights.”
Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, said frustration should not be directed only at the eight senators who broke ranks. He suggested that other members of the caucus were aware of or supported the decision. “It’s the same reason why they scheduled the surrender for after the election this week,” he said. “They didn’t want people pissed at Democrats right before an election.”
On MSNBC, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen acknowledged that Schumer was “kept informed” of the senators’ negotiations with Republicans.
The vote followed elections that showed Republican losses and declining public support for the party’s handling of the shutdown. Critics argued that the Democratic leadership gave away its negotiating leverage at the moment when it held the upper hand.
New Republic writer Greg Sargent criticized Schumer’s decision. “You’ve changed the story from ‘GOP hurting millions of Americans to please unpopular, failing, delusional despot who’s destroying his party’ to ‘Dems are too weak and divided in the face of Trump’s strength to take a stand and protect Americans,’” Sargent said, addressing Schumer directly.
Attorney Max Kennerly said the episode revealed a failure of leadership. “The coordinated nature of this—none [of the lawmakers who voted yes] are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate [minority] leader to stop it,” he said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said the decision reflected a disconnect between leadership and working people. “People want us to hold the line for a reason,” she said. “This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives. Working people want leaders whose word means something.”
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, was among the first to call for Schumer’s resignation. “Chuck Schumer should step down as Senate minority leader immediately,” he said. “If he secretly backed this surrender and voted ‘no’ to save face, he’s a liar. If he couldn’t keep his caucus in line, he’s inept. Either way, he’s proven incapable of leading the fight to prevent healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans. The country can’t afford his failed leadership any longer.”
Rep. Ro Khanna of California also said it was time for new leadership. “Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced,” Khanna said on Breaking Points. “You’ve had Schumer cheerleading the Iraq War, cheerleading a blank check to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, betraying us on the first shutdown. This is the culmination of someone who just doesn’t get it, who doesn’t get how much people are hurting, doesn’t get where the base of this party is.”
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner said millions of Americans would face severe consequences from the decision to reopen the government without a healthcare deal. “Now, up the 20 million Americans are going to watch their healthcare premiums double, triple, and in some cases quadruple,” Platner said. “Now we are on a path to watch 15 million Americans possibly lose access to healthcare insurance in the first place. This happened because Chuck Schumer failed in his job yet again, because they do not understand that when we fight, we win.”
“We need to elect leaders that want to fight,” Platner said, calling on voters to pressure their senators. “Until we elect Democrats that understand that fighting is what we need to do, we’re going to find ourselves in this position over and over and over again.”
While calls for new leadership have grown louder, no Senate Democrats have yet moved to replace Schumer. The American Prospect reported that any Democratic senator could bring a motion to amend caucus rules, which would automatically remove Schumer if approved, but no such action has been taken.
According to Politico, several Senate Democrats who opposed the shutdown deal have avoided directly criticizing Schumer. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said, “I want Republicans to actually grow a backbone and say, regardless of what [President] Donald Trump says, we’re actually going to restore these cuts on healthcare. But it looks like I’ve lost that fight, so I don’t want to post more pain on people who are hungry and on people who haven’t been paid.”
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the deal offered little to address the root causes of the crisis. “This bill doesn’t do anything to arrest the healthcare catastrophe, nor does it constrain in any meaningful way President Trump’s illegality,” Murphy said. “I think the voters were pretty clear on Tuesday night what they wanted Congress to do, and more specifically, what they wanted Democrats to do, and I am really saddened that we didn’t listen to them.”
Frustration has been especially intense in the House. According to Axios, during a private call among House Democrats, Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico told colleagues that “people are fucking pissed.” Another Democrat on the call said almost “everyone” was strongly against the deal.
Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who is challenging Sen. Ed Markey, said Schumer should step down. “If Chuck Schumer were an effective leader, he would have united his caucus to vote ‘No’ tonight and hold the line on healthcare,” Moulton said. “Maybe now Ed Markey will finally join me in pledging not to vote for Schumer?”
Progressive organizers are using the backlash to pressure potential candidates and incumbents alike. Indivisible said it “would not back any Senate primary candidate unless they call for Schumer to step down as Minority Leader.”
The shutdown vote and its aftermath have laid bare a widening divide inside the Democratic Party. For progressives, it is not just about a single vote but about who defines the party’s priorities in the years ahead. Whether Schumer remains in power now depends on whether Senate Democrats stay unified behind him—or whether grassroots anger grows strong enough to force a change.
COMMENTS