By Norman Solomon / The Hill
Halfway through 2025, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is the embodiment of the kind of leader that his party’s base clearly does not want.
A new Reuters-Ipsos poll found that 62 percent of self-identified Democrats agreed that “the leadership of the Democratic Party should be replaced with new people.” And key findings from that survey indicate that Schumer is the party’s most out-of-step leader.
The poll showed that a large majority of Democrats want elected officials to reduce “corporate influence,” while a whopping 86 percent “said changing the federal tax code so wealthy Americans and large corporations pay more in taxes should be a priority.”
But Schumer’s record is the epitome of corporate influence. For decades, he has given priority to protecting the financial interests of the wealthy and of large corporations.
Schumer vowed not to step aside after he infuriated the vast bulk of congressional Democrats with his vote for President Trump’s spending bill in March. That vote also incensed grassroots Democrats across the country, to the point that he felt compelled to abruptly call off an imminent, long-planned publicity tour for his new book that month.
In effect, Schumer has become persona non grata among his party’s voters in many blue states. More than three months after his “postponed” book tour, it has not been rescheduled — the Senate’s top Democrat is evidently wary of photo ops of protests against him by Democrats around the country. He remains the top Democrat in the Senate at a time when he is deeply unpopular among voters eager for leadership to put up a fight against the Trump administration.
If Senate Democrats are serious about reversing their party’s tailspin and improving its public image, they should insist on ending Schumer’s stint as minority leader. It is time for Democratic colleagues to put their foot down instead of deferring to New York’s senior senator.