Was Schumer First To Blink In Shutdown Negotiations?
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Image by getty images
By Nathan Guttman January 22, 2018
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer emerged bruised from the three-day government shutdown, which is expected to end Monday after the Senate reached a compromise.
President Trump and the Republicans coined the term “Schumer Shutdown” on Friday, singling out the New York senator as being solely responsible for the federal government grinding to a halt. But after brokering a deal with Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell that allowed the government’s re-opening, Schumer found himself under fire again — this time from liberals in his own party who claimed Schumer had caved.
Schumer’s agreement to allow passage of the budget in return for McConnell’s promise to discuss a DACA extension in the near future was described as a sign of weakness by outraged liberals on Twitter, with Schumer himself being depicted by one activist as the “worst negotiator in Washington.”
Left-wing groups and activists had hoped to see Schumer and Senate Democrats stick to their guns and insist on resolving immigration issues before ending the shutdown. Schumer and moderate Democrats argued that they had secured a six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program along with sufficient assurances that DACA will be next on the table.
Either way, within four days, Schumer has been the subject of two different trending hashtags: #SchumerShutdown on Friday and #SchumerSellout on Monday.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Fast Forward Jewish Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky reportedly to retire after 26 years in office
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.