Schumer in toughest fight of Senate leadership career

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is facing the toughest fight of his Senate leadership career amid sharp attacks from his party’s base over his vote to advance a House Republican-drafted funding bill.

Senate Democratic colleagues say that Schumer, who is 74 years old, isn’t going anywhere as party leader, but they’re questioning his decisionmaking in a way they haven’t during his previous eight years as leader.

Multiple senators complained about the lack of a clear strategy from their leadership heading into last week’s standoff with Senate and House Republicans over the House-passed funding bill, according to sources familiar with the sometimes heated discussions within the Senate Democratic Caucus.

The legislation cut $15 billion from nondefense programs and didn’t include guardrails to slow Elon Musk’s assault on the federal bureaucracy.