Chuck Schumer did this to himself, so he only has himself to blame.

If he, in his capacity as Senate Minority Leader, hadn’t gambled on kicking a continuing resolution down the road until after the election last September, he wouldn’t be in this position. If he, knowing that Kamala Harris had lost, hadn’t decided to try his luck with the very narrow Republican majority in the House led by Speaker Mike Johnson and extended the CR again in December, he wouldn’t be in this position. Chuck Schumer played a bet, and he lost. He was banking on the Republican House not holding together to either pass a budget or a CR. Then Speaker Johnson pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, and Schumer was stuck. Here is where he made his truly critical error – he let the Democrats believe that he was going to allow them to vote against cloture, and let a filibuster commence to shut down the government.

So shut the government down then, Chuck.

Go ahead. https://t.co/YATtWSdslX

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) March 12, 2025

But when Schumer was faced with trying to hold HIS caucus together, it all sort of blew up in his face. The Senate Democrats devolved into screaming behind closed doors, and everyone was unhappy. At this point, Schumer caved, and announced he would vote for cloture. Since the bill could pass with a simple majority after the cloture vote (which needed 60 votes), voting for cloture was essentially voting for the CR, even if most of the Democrats who voted for cloture ended up voting against the bill during the final vote. It’s a distinction without much of a difference, and Democrats know that. And their base knows that, too.

Since the CR passed and kept the government open, Schumer has been on the defense against his own allies within Democrat leadership, and his own base. He’s had to put the brakes on promoting his new book, because he knows he will get protesters showing up to disrupt things. He’s gone on “The View” and tried to make his case (while making an ass out of himself, as usual). He’s still trying to convince Democrats that he did the pragmatic thing.

“Look, I’m not stepping down,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a taped interview that aired Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Schumer told moderator Kristen Welker he knew there “would be a lot of controversy” when he cast his vote to prevent a shutdown. But he maintains that while the GOP’s six-month bill was “certainly bad,” a shutdown “would be 15 or 20 times worse.”

“Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power to determine what is ‘essential.’ And they can determine without any court supervision. The courts have ruled it’s solely up to the executive what to shut down,” he said, warning that the Trump administration “would eviscerate the federal government.”

“On Day 2, they could say, ‘Oh, SNAP? Feeding hungry children? Not essential.’ On Day 4, ‘Mass transit? All transit? Aid to the states? Not essential. We’re cutting it.’ On Day 6, ‘Medicaid? We’ll cut that by 20%, 30%, 50%, 80%. We’ll go after Social Security. We’ll go after the veterans.’ Their goal is to just eviscerate the federal government so they can give more taxes, and their tax cuts … to their billionaire class over there,” he said.

“Sometimes when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve. And I did it out of pure conviction as to what a leader should do and what the right thing for America and my party was. People disagree.”

Again, ol’ Chuck’s mistake was dangling the filibuster in front of the rabid left, making them believe that he would go through with it. He now admits that the Democrats had “no leverage,” which is something John Fetterman was saying loudly and publicly. How did Schumer screw up this badly? Who knows, but now he’s taking the political right hook on the proverbial chin. Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries both have put their knives in Schumer’s back, and other mouthy House Democrats have complained loudly that Schumer isn’t fighting hard enough against President Trump. It is that last notion – that Schumer should be fighting directly against anything that Trump wants, even if it’s a good thing – that has activists mobilized, and showing up at Schumer’s house to protest.

About 100 protesters rallied outside Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Park Slope home Sunday to rip him for folding on a GOP-backed spending bill — with one sign reading, “Lost spine, if found please return to Chuck.”

The senator showed a “devastating lack of leadership as he capitulated to [President] Trump, [Elon] Musk and the GOP during negotiations over government funding,” said a statement from Indivisible Brooklyn, the liberal group that staged the demonstration at Schumer’s Brooklyn home.

“Since then, Senator Schumer has been pleading his case on multiple platforms, but New Yorkers aren’t buying it,” the statement said. “Schumer is not meeting the dire moment: It’s time for new leadership in the Senate that will fight fascism tooth and nail.”

Some of Sunday’s picketers toted signs that read, “Stand up or step down” and, “Resist or resign.”

About a dozen officers stood watch outside the embattled leader’s home, which was also protected by metal barricades that forced the protesters across the street.

“Your time is up, Chuck!” they chanted as the cops looked on.

Jennie Spector, one of Indivisible Brooklyn’s organizers, told The Post that Schumer “really betrayed us [and] betrayed the people who are counting on him to step up and protect us from what is clearly a fascist government in the White House.

“We’re calling on him to step down as minority leader because he’s not the leader we need at this moment,” Spector said.

Say that Schumer gives the protesters what they want, and he steps down as minority leader. Who would take over? *insert Final Jeopardy theme here* Next in line would be Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois – not exactly the answer that protesters are looking for, as Durbin also voted for cloture. After that, it’s a free-for-all between other senators who would be jockeying for position. Remember the rotating carnival of voting insanity that happened when Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the House Speakership? Yeah, it could turn into something similar. There is no one in the Senate who can get a majority of the Democrat caucus and be voted in as leader. In short, the Democrats are stuck with Schumer. And as far as someone like AOC trying to primary him? That is years off. Democrats are REALLY stuck with him, and he’s stuck with an angry caucus and House colleagues.

Schumer is in a pickle of his own making. I hope he enjoys it.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click