Will Supporting Schumer’s Leadership Be a Litmus Test For Democratic Candidates?

“I don’t think this call for Senate leadership to change is going to go away,” one Democratic House member told NOTUS.

Chuck Schumer

Ben Curtis/AP

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s moment in the hot seat sparked debate on Capitol Hill about the senator’s ability to stand up to a second, more emboldened Donald Trump presidency. That moment has come and gone. But the loudest voices behind the calls for Schumer to step down have put him on watch.

After Schumer’s March vote to allow a GOP-led continuing resolution to advance and avoid a government shutdown, some Democrats — largely in the House and outside Congress — aired their frustration with the New York Democrat’s leadership.

To some in the party’s ranks, the angst toward the party leader was just a temporary flare-up rather than a moment for uprooting leadership. But others tell NOTUS it’s only a matter of time before the pressure on Schumer mounts again.