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 guttman@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
