THE NEW REPUBLIC
Senator Chuck Schumer’s decision Thursday to vote for the House GOP funding bill seems to have been the final straw for House Democrats—many of whom are now urging Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to mount a primary challenge against the Senate minority leader.
The New York congresswoman is in Leesburg, Virginia, with her Democratic colleagues for a policy retreat, and has been urging Senate counterparts to fight against the GOP continuing resolution.
“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters, saying she and other House Democrats are “texting, calling, sending carrier pigeons” to get the Democratic base to rally against Schumer’s plan to support the Republican bill.
“We have time to correct course on this decision. Senate Democrats can vote no. We can correct course, and that is the most important thing in front of us right now,” added Ocasio-Cortez, calling out Democratic senators for deciding to “completely roll over and give up on protecting the Constitution.”
And privately, House Democrats, angry with Schumer, are telling her that she should run against Schumer when he is up for reelection in 2028, CNN reports, citing an unnamed member of Congress. Several Democrats in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as well as others encouraged Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday night to run against Schumer.
According to the unnamed representative, even centrist Democrats were “so mad” that they were “ready to write checks for AOC for Senate.” Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment on challenging Schumer, saying she was focused on getting Democrats in the Senate to vote no. She noted that all but one House Democrat opposed the GOP bill, unlike in the Senate.
“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think is a huge slap in the face. And I think there is a wide sense of betrayal if things proceed as currently planned.”
Ocasio-Cortez has been vocal and effective in criticizing President Trump and Elon Musk, calling out everything from Trump’s attempt to deport activist Mahmoud Khalil to the president’s lies about January’s deadly D.C. plane crash. While 2028 is still three years away, the New York congresswoman is visibly fighting against the Trump and Republican agenda, and drawing support from unusual places.
Donald Trump and his Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought plan to impound federal spending after Congress passes a budget to avoid government shutdown, setting up a major legal fight with Congress.
Trump and Vought, a Project 2025 alum, plan to impound some of the funds Congress allocates before the government shutdown deadline on Friday, Fox News reports. The move would violate the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which Trump and his supporters have called unconstitutional, as it prevents the president from spending money appropriated by Congress in a different way.
A direct challenge to the law would prompt a legal fight that would very likely be decided by the Supreme Court and threaten the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution. If the executive branch gains impoundment power, Trump and future presidents would have much more power, with Congress significantly weakened.
Right now, the Senate is at a standstill over budget discussions, with Democrats standing in the way of Republicans’ attempts to pass a continuing resolution. The GOP needs eight Democrats to join them to pass it, and they are having trouble convincing enough to do so.
Vought’s role in Trump’s plans raises serious questions as he was one of the authors of the conservative Project 2025 manifesto, which seeks to completely remake the federal government, and by extension the country as a whole, to serve right-wing cultural and business interests. Impounding funds has worrying short-term consequences, but in the long term, could be part of an even more sinister strategy.
Donald Trump suggested Thursday that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte could be “very instrumental” in helping him carry out his imperialist fantasy of wresting Greenland from Denmark.
During a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about the “potential annexation” of Greenland, the sparsely populated, mineral-rich island that the president has repeatedly insisted is very important for the U.S. to control.
“Well, I think it will happen. And, I’m just thinking, uh, I didn’t give it much thought before, but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental,” Trump said.
“You know Mark, we need that for international security, not just security.”
Rutte replied diplomatically, saying that he should be left “outside” the discussions of the U.S. acquiring Greenland.
“I don’t want to drag NATO in that,” Rutte said. “But when it comes to the high north and the Arctic, you are totally right. The Chinese are using these routes. We know that the Russians are rearming…
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