Schumer apologizes for calling Republicans 'bastards'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) referred to Republicans as "bastards" on live television before quickly apologizing during a heated discussion on MSNBC over his decision to vote in favor of the GOP’s stopgap funding plan to avert a federal shutdown.
Schumer has faced intense pushback on the left this week, with progressives accusing him of capitulating to Republicans — who hold slim majorities in the Senate and House — on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through September.
“It's much, much better not to be in the middle of a shutdown, which could divert people from the No. 1 issue we have against these bastards — sorry, these people — which is not only all these cuts, but they're ruining democracy,” Schumer said Thursday on MSNBC’s “All In."
The Senate is expected to vote on the stopgap spending measure Friday ahead of a midnight deadline to fund the government. Republicans have a 53-47 majority, but most legislation, including the CR, needs 60 votes to advance in the upper chamber and overcome a filibuster.
Democrats in recent days have lambasted the proposal, which would boost defense spending and cut nondefense programs and was drafted largely without Democratic input.
Schumer took to the Senate floor Wednesday to call for a 30-day “clean” government funding plan, rather than the legislation that narrowly passed the GOP-led House on a near party-line vote earlier this week.
“Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass," Schumer said. "We should vote on that. I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday."
But the House adjourned for the week after passing its proposal earlier this week, leaving the Senate to vote on its version of the spending plan or let the federal government shut down.
Schumer announced Thursday night that he would vote to advance the six-month stopgap passed by the House to avoid a shutdown, drawing increased criticism from progressives.
President Trump congratulated the Democratic leader Friday, saying he did "the right thing."
"Took 'guts' and courage!" Trump posted on Truth Social.
On MSNBC on Thursday night, Schumer described Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk, the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who would determine what continues to be funded in a shutdown situation, as “authoritarians, vicious, nasty.”
Trump has tasked Musk, a top donor to his reelection campaign, and DOGE with cutting federal spending to align the government with his agenda. Their efforts have prompted mass firings of federal workers and drastic reductions in foreign aid programs, while also stoking fears of threats to Social Security and other entitlement programs.
“Why is it that Elon Musk and Donald Trump want a government shutdown? So they can take control of the government and do their vicious, horrible things,” Schumer said on MSNBC. "They could cut half the government. They could tell employees, 'You're not essential,' and never bring them back permanently, firing them. It's a disaster."
Schumer said he didn’t want to give Trump's staff a free pass to elevate the president's priorities, by deeming them “essential services,” while leaving other government functions to wither.
“In a few weeks, if there was a shutdown, everyone would be complaining,” Schumer said. “'Why did they eliminate SNAP [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]?' 'Why did they cut so much of Medicaid?' But they could do all that on their own. That's the problem.”