Lefties in the House are furious at the lefties in the Senate because they caved to Trump on the continuing resolution.
I, too, think the CR is pretty pathetic, if for rather different reasons. I get why they need to do it, but maintaining spending without making DOGE cuts permanent is disappointing.
House members hoped that creating a “Trump shutdown” would help turn the tables on him–a forlorn hope, but a hope. But Democrats in the Senate, being a bit older, slightly wiser, and a lot more vulnerable to losing key seats and watching all power slip away thought better of stopping the CR.
AOC has been one of the radicals leading the charge against this “betrayal,” and some of her colleagues, we are told, are encouraging her to make a run at ol’ Chuck and bring some AOC-style common sense to the Senate.
Asked by CNN about fellow Democrats encouraging her to challenge Schumer, Ocasio-Cortez did not rule it out and said only that she was focused on keeping Dems from backing the funding bill: “We still have an opportunity to correct course here, and that is my number one priority.”
— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) March 14, 2025
Boy would I love to see that. It would be a pity that they both couldn’t lose.
CNN —
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that she plans to mobilize her massive base of followers to oppose what she described as an “acquiesce” by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to accept the House GOP funding bill.
“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters in Leesburg, Virginia, where House Democrats are huddling for their annual policy retreat. She said she and her fellow Democrats are “texting, calling, sending carrier pigeons,” to mobilize the Democratic base against Schumer’s plan to allow the GOP funding bill to advance.
And she slammed Senate Democrats for their decision to “completely roll over and give up on protecting the Constitution.”
As I wrote yesterday, the Democrats were going to be presented with the horrific polling that showed they were less popular than head lice, but I’m sure AOC takes that as an indication that the Dems need to decolonize America harder and faster and chop off twice as many genitals from children.
That’s how she rolls.
The New York Democrat has been among the most vocal Democratic officials nationwide in the push against the House GOP funding bill. Using her social accounts, Ocasio-Cortez has urged fellow Democrats across the country to exert maximum pressure on their own senators on the funding bill, which is the first major point of leverage in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Privately, House Democrats are so infuriated with Schumer’s decision that some have begun encouraging her to run against Schumer in a primary, according to a Democratic member who directly spoke with Ocasio-Cortez about running at the caucus’ policy retreat. Multiple Democrats in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and others directly encouraged Ocasio-Cortez to run on Thursday night after Schumer’s announcement, this member said.
The member said that Democrats in Leesburg were “so mad” that even centrist Democrats were “ready to write checks for AOC for Senate,” adding that they have “never seen people so mad.”
Asked by CNN about fellow Democrats encouraging her to challenge Schumer, Ocasio-Cortez declined to answer and said she was focused on keeping Democrats from backing the funding bill: “We still have an opportunity to correct course here, and that is my number one priority.”
But speaking to reporters, Ocasio-Cortez did not hold back on her criticism of Senate Democrats for backing out of a vote that all but one battleground House Democrat was willing to take.
Does she mean “mad” as in “angry,” or “mad” as in insane?
Back in the real world I doubt that a single “moderate” Democrat, whatever that is these days, would actually write a check to AOC to take out Chuck Schumer. It would be suicidal both internally within the Democratic Party as the Establishment came to crush them, and suicidal for any vaguely vulnerable Democrat to have actually written a check to AOC.
No doubt many of them are angry, but not because of the policy choice. The bill keeps spending at the present level, mostly, and doesn’t include any of the huge cuts that it should.
They are angry because they were forced to “walk the plank,” as they say in politics, and take one for the team. They are ticked that the Senate didn’t commit suicide to make them look better.
🚨 THERE IT IS: Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) caves after threatening a shutdown.
“While the bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse.”
“Let me be clear about one thing: nobody on my side of the aisle wants a… pic.twitter.com/CIY3tdSzvK
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 13, 2025
Democratic Senators chose to do this for, what to them, are actually good reasons. The last thing they need to do in order to convince Americans that cutting government is impossible without turning America into a post-apocalyptic wasteland with Mad Max searching for drops of gasoline is to actually shut down government and have everybody go about their days as if nothing happened.
Trump would have a field day, and use the opportunity to make even grander cuts and roll out a list of government waste he is chopping with a meat axe.
If you think Democrats have it bad now, imagine how much worse it could get with Trump deciding who is furloughed and who is essential and then reminding the American people that most federal employees are at home twiddling their thumbs doing nothing while life goes on for everybody else.
Kirsten Gillebrand understood the message and let Schumer have it for even considering a shutdown.
🚨 BREAKING: As Democrats are stressing over potentially causing a government shutdown, reports are that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is *SCREAMING* so loud that reporters can hear what she’s saying in a closed-door meeting.
She reportedly OPPOSES the shutdown and is… pic.twitter.com/bNRNl88DKV
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 13, 2025
BREAKING: As Democrats are stressing over potentially causing a government shutdown, reports are that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is *SCREAMING* so loud that reporters can hear what she’s saying in a closed-door meeting.She reportedly OPPOSES the shutdown and is concerned about political fallout now that the Trump White House seems to have successfully pinned any shutdown on Democrats.Per / FOX. Per Punchbowl’s , she is saying: “This will not be a normal shutdown.”
You betcha it wouldn’t be a normal shutdown. The world, for federal employees, would actually become post-apocalyptic.
The normal rules don’t apply to Trump. He isn’t afraid of the confrontations and knows much better than the Democrats how to win, and he is on a winning streak.
Schumer saw the light, and now is in AOC’s crosshairs. Not that he is likely frightened. Like he said of pissing off the Intelligence Community, Chuck Schumer has six ways from Sunday to get back at HIS enemies.
Watch your back AOC.
