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SENATE Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is being forced to cancel events for his book tour over “security concerns” after backing the GOP’s spending bill as Democrats say they’re leaving the party.
The New York Democrat’s decision to reluctantly vote for the bill to avoid a government shutdown came at a cost as he has received harsh criticism with calls for him to resign.
Now, his book tour is at risk after Semafor congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett reports that a spokesperson for Schumer said, “Due to security concerns, Senator Schumer’s book events are being rescheduled.”
There is major infighting between the Democrats as the party is split on whether it was more damaging to pass the bill than to let the government shut down given the chaos that Democrats believe President Donald Trump has created during the weeks he has been in office again.
Schumer, along with nine other Democrats and Angus King, an independent from Maine, voted to advance the bill hours before the government was set to shut down.
The bill was later passed in a 54 to 46 vote with the help of Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and King.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against the bill.
On Saturday, Trump signed the bill that will fund the government for another six months.
Meanwhile, MSNBC host Symone Sanders Townsend announced on The Weekend that she is leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent.
“There’s actually little that the Senate Minority Leader can say, and the 10 Democrats that voted with the Republicans can say, to appease somebody like me. I’m going to change my registration to Independent,” Townsend said.
Schumer said he decided to vote for the GOP bill because if a shutdown were to happen, it would allow Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to “destroy vital government services faster.”
But other Dems don’t see it that way.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York wrote on Bluesky on Friday, “Among the material devastation to everyday people, Senate Dems have now blown a hole in their ability to work with the House.”
She continued: “We had an agreed upon plan, House took immense risk, then Senate turned around midway and destroyed it w/ a fear-based, inexplicable abdication.”
“They own what happens next,” the congresswoman added.
Chuck Schumer Defends Vote
Senator Chuck Schumer defended his decision to vote on the GOP spending bill on Friday.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk want a shutdown to destroy vital government services faster,” Schumer wrote on X.
He continued: “It would be a disaster.”
“And we have to alert everyone how much pain it would cause the American people,” the senator added.
The GOP bill narrowly passed in the House last Tuesday in a 217-213 vote.
All Democrats except Representative Jared Golden of Maine voted against it.
One Republican, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, also voted against the bill as well.
Schumer initially didn’t support the GOP bill, writing on X on Wednesday, “Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort.”
“Our caucus is unified on a clean 30-day CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass,” he said.