Furious Dems call for Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Schumer after he caves to Republicans on funding bill

A controversial decision by Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to give in on a Republican funding bill is leading some to call on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to challenge him in the next primary election.

Democrats expressed outrage when Schumer admitted defeat and said the party would not stand in the way of a continuing resolution from Republicans in order to avoid a government shutdown.

'This continuing resolution codifies much of this chaos that Elon Musk is wreaking havoc on the federal government. It codifies many of those changes.'

Schumer argued that a shutdown would play into the hands of President Donald Trump and the rest of the Republicans, who control the Senate as well as the House of Representatives.

"While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse," he said.

Among those critical of Schumer was Ocasio-Cortez, who has been a frequent thorn in the side of the Democratic Party establishment.

"I cannot urge enough how bad of an idea it is to empower and enable Donald Trump and Elon Musk in this moment. It is dangerous and it is reckless," she said in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN.

She pointed to various town hall events where Republican members of Congress were angrily denounced by some constituents who had been negatively affected by cuts in government funding.

"If anyone has held a town hall — or has seen what has been happening in town halls — American people, whether they are Republicans, independents, Democrats, are up in arms about Elon Musk and the actual gutting of federal agencies across the board," Ocasio-Cortez said. "This continuing resolution codifies much of this chaos that Elon Musk is wreaking havoc on the federal government. It codifies many of those changes."

Outrage against Schumer has led to some centrist Democrats joining the far-left voices calling for Ocasio-Cortez to primary Schumer, according to a CNN report Thursday. One member told CNN that some Democrats were so furious with Schumer that they were willing to "write checks for AOC for Senate," immediately.

When directly confronted by Tapper about that possibility, Ocasio-Cortez neither agreed nor disagreed.

“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,” she responded.

Later on Friday, 10 Democrats joined Republicans to advance the bill in the Senate to avoid the government shutdown.

Prior to the current controversy, Ocasio-Cortez has said many times that she wants new leadership for the party. She first won her election by defeating a party boss who was next in line for the House speakership after Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California.

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