We’ll cut to the chase: Chuck Schumer needs to step down as Senate Democratic Leader.

Democrats were winning the shutdown fight. And won a HUGE mandate in last week’s election. Momentum was on our side.

You’ll hear in the news that 8 Senate Democrats folded without ANY promise of preventing health insurance costs from skyrocketing for millions of Americans – the main point of the fight.

But as The American Prospect reports, these supposedly-rogue Democrats "were acting with the express approval of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and were reporting to him daily." Schumer may deny this and say he tried his best. Well, if this was Schumer’s best, his best clearly isn’t good enough.

The legacy of Chuck Schumer is caving, not winning. The best way to unify the Democratic Party and win big in 2026 is to make clear that the new generation of Democratic senators we elect will NOT be following Chuck Schumer down a losing path.

TAKE OUR SURVEY: Do you agree that Chuck Schumer should step down as Democratic Leader? And how are you feeling about the end of the government shutdown? Tell us here.

We’ll share answers with the media and members of Congress, including Schumer’s staff and colleagues.

Here are just a few of the ways Democrats were winning before this cave:

• Polling shows the public was moving more and more to our side.
• By picking a smart fight, Democrats made more news about Trump’s cruel health care cuts now than when the Big Billionaires Bill passed a few months ago. Fighting worked!
• Trump publicly blamed the shutdown for Republican election losses last week!
• Americans saw Trump actively go to court in order to cut food for hungry families! When the court told him to fund the food, he appealed instead of helping hungry Americans.
• As millions of Americans went hungry, Americans saw Trump hold two lavish parties and find money for a new vanity ballroom.
• Last night at a football game, Trump was booed.

We were winning. We could have decreased pain for millions of Americans in the short, medium, and long term. Only weak Democrats pull defeat from the jaws of victory.

Here’s an inside scoop: Last week, Senate Democrats claimed to unify around a proposal to end the shutdown. The full Senate could end the shutdown if Republicans agreed to a 1-year extension of health care subsidies to avoid skyrocketing costs. But instead of unifying, the weak links kept negotiating – sending a signal to Republicans not to take the deal because the weak Democrats would be willing to settle for nothing! That’s shameful.

Here’s another inside scoop: About a dozen Democrats wanted to cave. But only 8 Democrats voted with Republicans in the end. Why? Because those were the ones retiring or not up for re-election next year. Other weak Democrats would not show their face. Again, shameful.

At the end of the day, whether Schumer was in cahoots with these weak Democrats or just incompetently got rolled by them doesn’t matter. Chuck Schumer does not meet the moment. To win in 2026, it must be clear that new senators will not be following Schumer.

TAKE OUR SURVEY: Do you believe Chuck Schumer should step down as Democratic leader? And how are you feeling about the end of the government shutdown? Tell us here.

(You can also chip in to some Senate Democrats who WERE fighting on the inside – like Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Andy Kim, and Ruben Gallego.)

Thanks for being with us in this fight.

-- Adam Green, PCCC co-founder

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