Schumer postpones book tour amid progressive revolt over shutdown vote as senator blames ‘security concerns’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is scrapping book tour events this week as progressives fume over his maneuver to avert a partial government shutdown last week, a source told The Post.
The source said Schumer is blaming “security concerns.”
Schumer (D-NY), 74, had scheduled events touting his forthcoming tome “Antisemitism in America: A Warning” in Baltimore, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York City this week while the Senate was in recess.
“Senator Schumer’s book tour events during the week of March 17 are being postponed for security reasons. We will work to reschedule this event at a later date,” webpages promoting the scrapped events this week noted.
Disgruntled progressive activists were widely expected to crash his events to protest his decision to vote against blocking a GOP bill to keep the government’s lights on.
A cacophony of progressive stars such as Emma Vigeland of “Majority Report” called on their followers to protest Schumer’s appearances. Multiple demonstrations against Schumer had been planned for his first stop in Baltimore Monday, including from the liberal Sunrise Movement.
“Chuck Schumer is afraid to face the people he betrayed last week. Another act of cowardice. We need new leadership,” the Sunrise Movement, an activist group that focuses on combating climate change, said.
Many Democrats in Congress saw last week’s government shutdown fight as rare leverage to extract concessions from Republicans on a host of President Trump’s actions including slashing the federal government.
All but one House Democrat voted against the Republican-drafted stopgap measure to keep the government funded through September. Given the Senate filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to overcome, Democrats had a chance to block the bill in the upper chamber.
But having lived through multiple government shutdowns in his two-and-a-half decade Senate career and nearly two decades in the House, Schumer felt the Democrats weren’t well-positioned to win that fight. Moreover, he fretted about the ramifications of a partial shutdown.
“A shutdown would give Donald Trump the keys to the city, the state and the country,” Schumer warned before joining nine other Senate Dems in voting to clear a procedural hurdle to the GOP bill.
Schumer had opposed the GOP bill, but argued that Trump would have too much power to make deeper cuts to the federal bureaucracy if the government partially shut down.
Left-wing groups such as Indivisible erupted in fury and promptly called on Senate Dems to oust the New Yorker from his longtime post and primary him when his term is up in 2028.
“That’s a long time away,” Schumer told The New York Times about speculation Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) might challenge him in the Democratic primary.
A Change.org petition to cease donations to the Dems until the Empire State Dem steps down quickly garnered over 24,000 signatures.
A sea of protesters chanted against Schumer outside his house last week as well.
Democratic lawmakers openly ripped his decision to help avert a partial shutdown, though so far, no elected Senate Dem has publicly called to jettison him from his leadership perch.
“If we continue to observe norms, if we continue to engage in business as usual, this democracy could be gone. I don’t think we have a year to save American democracy,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press Sunday,” while noting he still supports Schumer as leader.
While his No. 2, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also backed the move, Democratic leadership in the House conveyed contempt for Schumer’s decision.
In a stunning moment from a fellow Brooklyn native, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) refused to say whether he had confidence in his Senate counterpart or whether Schumer should be replaced, when asked last Friday.
“Next question,” Jeffries said during a press conference when pressed about Schumer’s future as leader of the Senate Dems.
Other groups besides progressives have also planned protests against Schumer during his book tour. A group of Jewish activists planned a protest on the Upper East Side Tuesday to push back against him for not passing the Antisemitism Awareness Act.
Schumer had split with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last year over how best to advance that legislation.
His book is intended to be a “warning” rooted in history about the consequences of letting the “world’s oldest hatred” go “unchecked.”
Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the country.
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