Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on Sunday defended Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) after the New York Democrat came under fire over the end of the government shutdown.
“Chuck has been an effective leader. Remember, when Chuck was majority leader during the Biden administration, he produced a string of legislative wins with a bare majority, nearly unparalleled in recent history; infrastructure, the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, fixed — fixing the Electoral College, first gun safety bill in 25 years, an important veterans legislation,” Kaine told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”
“Being the minority leader is tough. In the Senate, we have some tools in the minority, but not many. We don’t control what’s on the floor,” he added.
Schumer has recently become the target of fury from progressives in the wake of moderate Democrats reaching a deal to reopen the government. Progressive Senate candidates and House members quickly placed blame on Schumer, claiming his inadequate leadership resulted in eight Democratic caucus members making a deal with Republican leaders to reopen the government.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said in a post on the social platform X last week.
On Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called out all of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate after eight lawmakers allied with the GOP on a deal to reopen the government.
The New York progressive told reporters the blame for the circumstances goes beyond Schumer.
“There’s a lot of focus rightfully on Leader Schumer, but I do think that when it comes to the Senate, it is Senate Democrats that select their leadership,” Ocasio-Cortez told Politico. “And so I actually think this problem is much bigger than Leader Schumer.”
