During the week of March 16, 2025, a political drama unfolded in Washington, DC. The issue at hand was a bipartisan spending bill that would keep the government funded for the remainder of the fiscal year. The bill gained overwhelming support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but soon thereafter controversy emerged, specifically targetting Chuck Schumer (Dem., NY), the Senate Majority Leader, who supported the bill.
Several progressive members of the Senate, including Bernie Sanders (I., VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D., MA), decried Schumer’s decision to back the bill. They argued that it left out key progressive priorities, such as stronger gun control laws, and only served to appease the more moderate Republicans’ opposition to certain pandemic relief measures. In response, Schumer reiterated that the current political climate required compromise in order to pass any legislation, and that supporting the spending bill was a necessary step towards fulfilling core Democratic values.
The tension between the moderate and progressive wings of the party intensified, leading to heated and emotional debates on the floor of the Senate. Center-right Democrats such as Joe Manchin (D., WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D., AZ) expressed their own discomfort with the spending bill’s constituent components but stopped short of criticizing Schumer’s stance.
Meanwhile, progressive Democrats such as Sanders and Warren led a filibuster revolt, demanding the inclusion of $15 minimum wage legislation and climate change initiatives for the build-back better package. While this effort proved ultimately unsuccessful, it highlighted the growing divide among Democrats and their evolving approach to political power.
As the March 16 spending deadline approached, Schumer’s leadership faced mounting criticism and jeopardy. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle fretted that the country was inching ever-closer toward another government shutdown, while further jeopardizing Democratic-leaning votes for the 2022 midterms.
In the end, the spending bill passed, surprising many observers who have grown increasingly used to the toxic gridlock and acrimony that plagues Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats’ post-passage comments were mixed: some suggested that the bill represented a necessary but unsatisfactory step toward progress while others argued that it endangered the future of the Democratic Party by compromising its core values.
For better or worse, the weeks-long debate over the spending bill highlighted some key challenges facing Democrats as they try to steer a path forward amid a divided government and a growing constituent base. On the one hand, Democrats aspire to enshrine their party’s values of democracy, equity, and environmental stewardship. On the other hand, the party’s fractiousness, rock-solid congressional gridlock, and prolonged impasses on Capitol Hill raise significant questions about whether it is capable of delivering on its promises.
As Washington prepares to move on to other legislative priorities in the months to come, Democrats will face a series of difficult choices about how best to resolve their internal divisions and serve their constituents. Schumer’s handling of the recent spending bill offers a first and critical principle for moving forward: in politics, the devil is infinitely more complex than the details.
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