Expressing her frustration, Sanders Townsend expressed her anger at Schumer’s sudden support for the Republican-driven spending bill that prevented a government shutdown during The Weekend show.

‘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,’ a frustrated Sanders Townsend said.

Her on-air bombshell stunned the panel, with her stance similar to what many are now calling the beginning of a political fracture within the Democratic ranks and a rift that could lead to a progressive uprising against the party’s establishment.

Schumer, long regarded as a master of tactical voting in the Senate, found himself at the center of a political firestorm after voting in favor of a stopgap spending bill late on Friday night.

The 74-year-old top New York Democrat had claimed last week that his camp was united in opposition to the Trump-backed Republican proposal.

But on Thursday he relented and declared he would vote to keep the government’s lights on.

Ten other Democrats joined with him Schumer to push the measure over the finish line in a 54-46 vote.

Trump signed the bill into law Saturday afternoon. 

Schumer justified his position as the least-worst path, and ‘the best way to minimize the harm that the Trump administration will do to the American people.’ 

Almost all Republicans backed the measure. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the bill along with nearly all the Democrats, except Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Independent Senator Angus King of Maine. 

The bill keeps the government running, but at the cost of billions in spending cuts, including the continuation of devastating cuts to agencies already crippled by Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping federal layoffs. 

‘The reality here is there was no message, no strategy, and, at the end of the day, no leadership,’ fumed former Democratic Congresswoman Donna Edwards, now an MSNBC analyst. 

‘This is really a black mark on Chuck Schumer. You cannot signal on Wednesday that you want to fight, and then on Thursday, you cave. And so now Republicans know that all they have to do is play Democrats, and it will work.’

Schumer calculated that by avoiding a shutdown would be handing President Trump a political gift.

‘It’s much, much better not to be in the middle of a shutdown, which [would] divert people from the number one issue we have against these b*******,’ Schumer told MSNBC on Friday – before quickly correcting himself, ‘Sorry, these people.’ 

But for many within his party, including some of its most loyal progressive allies, the excuse fell flat.

Sanders Townsend appeared to be seething as she tore into Schumer and Senate Democrats for what she called a complete collapse of resistance against Trump’s agenda.

‘There’s not another option for Senate Democrats or House Democrats to effectively push back. This was it. They blew it,’ Sanders Townsend said, looking completely fed up. 

‘The Democratic Tea Party was born the same day that Chuck Schumer took to that podium to read that very well-crafted statement that told us he folded like a paper napkin.’  

Reading from journalist Rebecca Traister’s Substack, Sanders Townsend emphasized that the same Democrats who warn about Trump’s danger to democracy now refuse to stand against him in practice, perhaps signaling the death of any authentic opposition within the party.

There was anger in New York and Washington DC as news of the deal spread. 

Outside Schumer’s home in New York, more than 100 furious protesters gathered to denounce his actions, while thousands more flooded Manhattan streets in opposition to both Trump and the Democratic leadership that, in their view, failed to fight back.

Michelle Vaughan, a 53-year-old artist holding a sign that read ‘Elon out! — You too, Chuck!’

‘The budget was our only leverage,’ Vaughan said at the protest in Manhattan. ‘It was a way to show the base of Democrats and the world that there’s a resistance to this authoritarian takeover.’ 

At a rally in Manhattan, Aimee Reeves, recently laid off from a nonprofit hit by USAID cuts, said Democrats were normalizing Trump’s destruction of government. 

‘The government is not functioning as it should, and the fact that they put forth a narrative that we needed to vote for this bill to continue the government to function is normalizing something that’s entirely not normal,’ Reeves said.

Even members of Schumer’s own caucus are now questioning his leadership. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) told CNN on Sunday. 

‘I think Senate Democrats have to sit down and take a look and decide whether or not Chuck Schumer is the one to lead in this moment.’  

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has warned of ‘catastrophic consequences’ from the spending cuts, unleashed a scathing post on Bluesky, writing: ‘Senate Democrats have destroyed their chances of future cooperation with the House through their fear-based, inexplicable abdication. They own what happens next.’

Around the table at MSNBC table, Alicia Menendez revealed how some Democrats are privately urging Ocasio-Cortez to run against Schumer in a primary.

‘Anyone can primary him. Anyone,’ Sanders Townsend declared, her frustration clear. 

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries attempted to calm tempers stating, ‘Our party is not a cult, we are a coalition. On occasion, we may strongly disagree about a particular course of action.’ 

Outside Schumer’s Washington office, young activists from the Sunrise Movement gathered with banners demanding ‘No more cowardice – Step up or step aside.’ 

Other progressive groups like the Center for Biological Diversity accused Democrats of ‘handing Musk and Trump free rein to destroy our environmental agencies and gut the civil service.’

Trump himself gloated over the chaos, posting on his Truth Social on Friday: ‘Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing. It took ‘guts’ and courage,’ the president wrote.

With progressives seething, the base disillusioned, and Trump emboldened, Sanders Townsend’s declaration could be the canary in the coal mine and a warning the Democratic Party might be on the verge of an internal revolt.

Schumer may soon find himself facing the fiercest battle of his career, not from Republicans, but from within his own ranks.

‘No more paper napkins,’ one protester shouted outside Schumer’s residence. ‘If you can’t fight, step aside.’