Schumer Faces Resignation Calls After Senate Advances Funding Bill

Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine joined Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Kirsten Gillibrand, Maggie Hassan, Gary Peters, Brian Schatz and Jeanne Shaheen in voting to advance the continuing resolution. Democrats agreed to invoke cloture in exchange for votes on four amendments. The Senate rejected proposals to restore Internal Revenue Service funding, rehire fired military veteran federal employees, eliminate the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and codify DOGE cuts to the United States Agency for International Development and foreign aid.

The Senate later passed H.R. 1968 by 54-46, largely along party lines. Shaheen and King voted yes; Sen. Rand Paul, who had sponsored the amendment to codify DOGE cuts, voted no. The measure funds the government through the end of September, averting a midnight shutdown. President Donald Trump was expected to sign it.

Schumer has argued that passage was the best available option to prevent a shutdown. Critics counter that the bill gives Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, more room to dismantle the federal bureaucracy. Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said Schumer had lost the confidence of many people and should step down. Human rights lawyer and former Democratic congressional candidate Qasim Rashid likewise called for his resignation, arguing that Democrats had surrendered their leverage.

Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, also urged Schumer to step aside, criticizing his handling of the funding vote and the administration’s policies. Separately, some critics want Schumer out of the Senate altogether. In the run-up to Friday’s procedural vote, some centrist House Democrats were reportedly urging progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to challenge him in a 2028 primary.