Sen. Michael Bennet is the highest-ranking Democrat in Congress to signal just how far the dissatisfaction with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has spread throughout the Democratic Party.
NPR reported that Bennet was asked if Schumer should step aside after his handling of the recently passed government funding bill at a town hall on Wednesday.
“I do think on the leadership question, it’s always better to examine whether folks are in the right place, and we’re certainly going to have that conversation,” Bennet said in his home state of Colorado, stopping just short of calling for Schumer to step down.
“And in dodging your question, let me just say it’s important for people to know when it’s time to go,” he reportedly told an attendee. “We’re going to have conversations, I’m sure, in the foreseeable future, about all the Democratic leadership.”
Democrats have faced questions about Schumer at town halls across the country as Congress has been in recess this week. At least two House Democrats have called for Schumer to step down in recent days. HuffPost reported that Rep. Glenn Ivey called for Schumer to move aside at a town hall in his district Tuesday night, and Rep. Delia Ramirez reportedly nodded and said “yes” when a constituent at her town hall asked if it’s time for Schumer to bow out.
A spokesperson for Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NOTUS.
Schumer has faced backlash for voting to advance the Republican funding bill after saying Democrats would block a procedural vote last week. But the growing criticism among elected lawmakers indicates an escalation in the calls to step aside that have otherwise been limited to outside groups.
There is already talk of a potential primary against Schumer, and he postponed a press tour for his new book citing security concerns. He stood by his decision to stay in leadership after calls for him to step aside, telling CBS Mornings on Tuesday that “I’m the best leader for the Senate … I am the best at winning Senate seats.”
Asked if he was going anywhere, Schumer said: “No.”
So far, none of his colleagues in the Senate Democratic caucus have publicly called for Schumer to step down, even after nearly every House Democrat and the majority of Senate Democrats voted against the bill. Many of his colleagues defended his decision to advance the bill, arguing that they understood that he believed a shutdown would be worse than passing this government funding bill.
Not all Democrats are going so far as Bennet and the lawmakers who have said he should step aside. In a Zoom town hall on Wednesday, a constituent asked Rep. John Garamendi of California what he thought of Schumer’s position on the funding bill. Garamendi stuck to rebuking Schumer’s actions.
“I think it was a mistake. I think you’ve got to fight every place. And the first fight we had was the continuing resolution, and Schumer voted to go with the president,” Garamendi said. “I think that was wrong. I think that empowered the president in multiple ways.”
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Tinashe Chingarande is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Daniella Diaz is a reporter at NOTUS.