Several progressive civic groups in Syracuse charged Senator Chuck Schumer with selling out to end the government shutdown, during a demonstration Friday afternoon.
Indivisible Onondaga County and CNY Solidarity Coalition organized the protest.
“We had a No Kings rally where thousands of people turned out, millions around the country. We had an incredible election which was reflected in not only locally, with many Democrats being elected, (and) around the country, many Democrats were elected, said Judy Jerome with Indivisible Onondaga County. “And so we had bargaining power. And Senator Schumer took that away from us.”
While Schumer voted against the final deal to reopen the government, critics charged he actually supported democrats who broke ranks to finally approve it.
Professor Thomas Keck with Indivisible Onondaga County says democrats’ concerns over peoples’ welfare might have backfired.
“The Republicans in Congress are kind of weaponizing that compassion as a negotiating tactic, right? They know that congressional Democrats care about people going hungry. And so they can use that as leverage to get Democrats to cave on funding people's health care,” said Keck.
The deal to reopen the government included a promise to bring health care subsidies up for a vote, likely next month. Protestors also agreed that resumption of SNAP food benefits and federal workers being back on jobs at airports and other agencies are good things.
But they said they wanted to see more fight in Senator Schumer. And several demonstrators held signs suggesting he should step aside as the party’s floor leader in the Senate.
Keck said he wasn’t sure that would be the right move. “We're just looking, the American people are looking, New Yorkers are looking, Senator Schumer's constituents are looking for leadership from congressional Democrats to show us that they are doing everything in their power to resist the Trump administration's authoritarian power grabs,” added Keck.
