Conflict Between Countries in the Aegean Sea: What Happened and What's Next?.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is facing one of the most dangerous moments of his political career.

For the second consecutive day, Democrats are furious over his support for a Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown, and the repercussions are likely to be felt long after the vote on Friday.

Several House lawmakers, including some in safe districts, are considering supporting challenges from their party colleagues. Activists are organizing efforts for financial punishment. Schumer is facing questions within his own caucus about whether he has made strategic mistakes in managing a high-stakes moment and has not articulated a clear plan for handling the complex shutdown politics, according to interviews with six lawmakers or their aides. Several Democratic senators in private conversations are even asking whether he should remain their leader.

'He has done tremendous damage to the party,' says Ezra Levin, co-founder of the liberal group Indivisible, which has scheduled an emergency call on Saturday with its New York chapter and other local leaders to 'seriously consider whether the current [Democratic] leadership is equipped to navigate the current situation we find ourselves in.'

According to stark evidence of how deep Schumer's internal frustrations run, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to throw his fellow Democrat a lifeline. Responding to reporters' questions on Friday about whether there should be new leadership in the Senate, he said, 'Next question.'

Schumer's one-Time partner, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), went even further, demanding senators to vote against his position, stating that 'this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.' And dozens of Democratic representatives sent a structured letter to Schumer on Friday expressing 'strong opposition' to his position, arguing that 'Americans and those who care about them' should not 'hand Democrats in Congress a mandate to fight Republican dysfunction and chaos,' and that the party should not 'capitulate to them.'

While several senators said they support his leadership, some Democratic senators sidestepped questions when asked directly on Friday about Schumer's role in the leadership.

'We still have a lot of things happening regarding this,' said Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) when asked if there should be a backlash regarding Schumer's role. 'So I’m not thinking about big political moments.'

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) also dodged, saying, 'A leader I don't trust is Donald Trump.' And Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) responded to a question about whether he continues to support Schumer, raising 'good afterlife' on the Democrats' approach to fighting for government funding.

'When you miss - and that's generally a failure - as a caucus, we owe it to Democrats across the country and our constituents to look back and ask: how did we get into this situation?' he said.

One Democratic senator, granted anonymity to share private conversations, said discussions are beginning about whether Schumer should be their leader going forward.

'There are a lot of concerns about a lack of plan and execution of it,' said the senator. 'It's not like you couldn't figure out what was going to happen.'

Frustrations regarding Schumer reflect anger among Democrats over what they see as a lack of strategy within their party to confront Trump in his second term. While few in Democratic circles believe Schumer’s position as minority leader is at risk - and he won't be up for re-election until 2028 - frustration towards him runs across the spectrum of the party, from moderates to progressives, both in Congress and beyond.

Schumer defended his vote to keep the government running as the best of two bad choices aimed at not giving Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk even more power in shrinking the government. He garnered support from eight Democratic senators and an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, enough to avoid a government shutdown.

'A government shutdown gives Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE nearly full power over what to shut down, as they can decide what is an essential service,' Schumer said in an interview with CNN. 'My job as a leader is to manage the party, and if there’s danger in the near future, to protect the party. I’m proud of what I did. I knew I was doing the right thing, and I knew there would be some disagreement. That’s always the case.'

He added that he is not worried about his leadership position: 'I have the public support of my whole caucus. And so many members thanked me and said: ‘You did what you thought was courageous, and we respect that.'

A person close to Schumer described the senator and other Democrats who supported the bill as providing cover for those who oppose it.

'The people who vote for [the continuing resolution] give everyone else broad political cover,' the person said. 'They can take a politically advantageous step without the consequence of a shutdown.'

However, behind closed doors, even some long-term allies of Schumer are throwing him under the bus. 'Biden is gone. Pelosi is in the rearview. Schumer is the last of that old generation,' said one benefactor who has long supported the leader. 'I truly worry that the older generation thinks that 2024 was just about inflation, but no, the game has changed. It's no longer left or moderate; now everyone is saying - the game is different now. But he was built to fight in 2006, and we are far from 2006.'

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said that 'active conversations' are happening among liberal groups about how to hold Schumer accountable. He said Schumer will likely face protests over his support of the Republican bill during his stops next week in connection with his new book 'Antisemitism in America: A Warning.' But he said efforts to relieve him of responsibility would not end there.

'This needs to be a lesson in strengthening the Democratic spine in the future,' he said.

And it’s far from just progressive.

'I haven't seen such unity in anger across the party in a long time,' said Charlotte Clymer, a Democratic operative connected to the moderate wing of the party, who initiated a petition to boycott donations to Senate Democrats until they force Schumer out as minority leader. 'Senator Schumer has managed to unite us much more than Trump has over the last few months.'