Democrats are attacking one another over Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision to vote for the House GOP government funding plan — and Republicans are ecstatic.
Republicans watched as the House Democratic leadership gave a press conference where Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to say if he supported Schumer — his home-state senator — on two separate occasions. They felt like they were on the front foot for the first time in months.
After nearly 60 days of being pressed to defend every one of President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s decisions, Republicans are now watching Democrats fight among themselves, and the spotlight is off of them.
“Many of the Democrats are so mad that they look crazy,” Rep. Don Bacon texted NOTUS.
Republicans not only believe that they’ve forced Schumer and Senate Democrats to swallow their funding bill or risk a shutdown, they also believe they’ve started an internal Democratic war, just by passing a government funding measure.
One House Republican leadership aide told NOTUS that this should be a prime example to Republicans for why sticking together is so important. When they work together, they can put Democrats in a tough spot and make them the story, this aide said.
“Mike Johnson keeping the team together broke the back of the Democratic resistance and drove their base insane in the process,” this aide told NOTUS. “For once, it’s nice to see Democrats be the ones clawing each others’ eyes out while Republicans cheer from the sidelines. Maybe we should do this more often.”
“The Democratic Party is essentially wandering in the woods with a bottle of Chardonnay and a bad attitude,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden told NOTUS.
Rep. Tim Burchett shared a similar sentiment. Democrats, he said, at the moment are a “rudderless ship.”
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Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.