Chicago’s progressive house members are joining a list of fellow Democrats to air their views after calling on minority leader Chuck Schumer to step down from his leadership position and allowing him to vote for a Republican spending plan to avoid government shutdowns.
Rep. Delia Ramirez said Wednesday that Schumer has already been caught up in Elon Musk and the government’s efficiency work, using a potential shutdown leverage to push back President Donald Trump, and using spending plans that cut further the program and government workforce.
“This is a moment when Democrats do more than talk about fighting or obstructing Donald Trump’s agenda to destroy Social Security and Medicaid, but it’s actually using all the legislative authorities to do that,” Ramirez said in an interview.
Lawmakers are one of more and more members of the family to criticize Schumer and say he should resign. So far, no Senate colleagues of minority leaders have publicly reflected their views.
A town hall person brooched subjects at Ramirez on Tuesday and asked if he believed Schumer should lose his position as a minority leader. The first elected representative in 2018 smiled and nodded before handing over the microphone, replied “Yes.”
“I said yes, because I truly believe in it, because at this exact moment, I want to be the kind of leader that will make the difficult decision that our members truly hear, step in, and have the courage to do everything they can to hold the line,” Ramirez told Politico.
Almost every Democrat voted against the House Republican plan in a unity exhibition under minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. Schumer said the spending resolution is a “bad” bill, but the closure only gave Trump and Musk the power to accelerate the firing of federal workers and slashing public agencies.
The veteran New York senator said he has no plans to resign despite criticism.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Schumer ally, said Tuesday she denounced him with unusually dull words for what she still supports him but deemed to have given up leverage in her fight with the Republican Party. On the same day, Democrat Glenn Evitrud should consider Schumer resigning from his post from his post, Suitland, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, home to many government workers.
Ramirez, whose views on minority leaders were first reported by Axios, said her criticism was rooted in what she heard from her constituents.
“What I heard from everyone who went through that line was that in addition to the people I spoke to later on, I wasn’t happy where the Democratic leaders were,” she said. “We believe you all should do more.”
