Democratic governors criticize Chuck Schumer for weak resistance to Trump
Democratic governors criticize Chuck Schumer for weak resistance to Trump
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Exchange between six governors and Senate minority leader exposes divisions in party over opposition approach. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, has reportedly been criticised by some of the party’s state governors for not resisting Donald Trump’s agenda and cabinet nominees strongly enough.
The exchange took place in a conference between Schumer and six Democratic governors that laid bare differences within the party over how to counteract a seemingly rampant Trump as he wreaks upheaval across the political landscape with an avalanche of executive orders, the New York Times reported.
The governors, led by JB Pritzker of Illinois and Maura Healey of Massachusetts, pleaded with Schumer to slow down the confirmation of Trump’s cabinet by persuading fellow senators to vote against his nominees wherever possible. They said the party needed to generate more public opposition than senators had managed in the chamber so far.
The appeal came in the week the Senate is meeting to confirm two of Trump’s most contentious cabinet picks, Robert F Kennedy Jr, as health and human services secretary, and Tulsi Gabbard, for the role of national intelligence director. In response, Schumer said Democrats had damaged the political standing of the new defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, during his hearings, in which he was narrowly confirmed, and of Kennedy in the opening day of his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
The conference call followed a controversial memo from the office of management and budget ordering a “pause” on trillions of dollars of federal funds used for vital spending programmes. The order was rescinded on Wednesday following a fierce backlash that led to a court ruling stalling it.
