Schumer defends vote to avert shutdown and his position as Senate Democratic leader
ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer defended his choice to vote with the minority of his party to keep the government open last week and his position as leader in an appearance on “The View” on Tuesday.
His comments come as some Democrats have publicly raised questions about their confidence in Schumer’s role as party leader following his move to allow Republicans to advance their led funding bill.
Schumer doubled down on the assertion he made on the Senate floor ahead of Friday’s closely watched vote: The Republican funding bill, called a continuing resolution or CR, was bad, but a government shutdown would have been worse.
“I knew it was a difficult choice, and I knew I’d get a lot of criticism or my choice, but I felt as a leader I had to do it,” Schumer told “The View” hosts.
Schumer said he and fellow Democrats “hated” the funding bill because it creates a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump, his adviser Elon Musk and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to “push around.”
But a shutdown, Schumer said “would have devastation like we have never seen.”
He said it would have given the Trump administration the freedom to slash programs it views as nonessential, with little to no recourse for Democrats to pursue. Programs like Medicaid and SNAP or funding for mass transit could have been indiscriminately slashed, he said.
“You have two choices: one bad, the other devastating,” Schumer said. “One chops off one of your fingers, the other chops off your arm.”
He said he was being “trolled” by Trump when the president congratulated him for passage of the bill on Trump’s Truth Social platform.
“He was trolling me. I know this guy. He’s trying to confuse people he always tries to confuse people,” Schumer said.
As a leader, Schumer said he had to act to avert a crisis down the road that would have been caused by a shutdown. But his position has not quelled calls within his own party for new leadership after Democrats appeared to some to be lacking in a strategy during Friday’s vote.
Schumer defended his role atop the caucus from ongoing criticism.
Responding to concerns that the party is somewhat aimless without an official leader, Schumer said Democrats have many talented leaders.
“When we don’t have a president, there is a lot of leaders. We have a great bench,” he said. “As for the Senate caucus, of which I am the leader, I should be the leader.”
Schumer touted his ability to recruit talent to win seats in the Senate, pointing to the 2020 election when Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff successfully claimed both seats in Georgia.
He also likened himself to an “orchestra leader” conducting his caucus to help their talents come through.
“We have a load of talent in our caucus, and I’ll tell you one thing: We are united in going after Trump and showing the American people that he is making the middle class pay for the tax cuts on the rich.”
Schumer also promoted his new book, “Antisemitism in America: A warning.”
He encouraged a number of individuals to read the book, including the president.
“He doesn’t understand what Jewish people are like. And he does things that can lead to antisemitism,” Schumer said. “He should read the book. He could learn something.”
He also warned against the left “sliding into” antisemitism.
Former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) employees/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Thousands of federal workers nationwide have been forced out of their jobs by the Trump administration as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s says it aims to improve the government and cut down waste.
From park rangers and Department of Veterans Affairs social workers to scientists and foreign relations experts, the workers have decades of experience and knowledge that are crucial to their fields.
With that wealth of knowledge and experience, labor and security experts told ABC News that those fired federal workers are being recruited by private firms and foreign governments, which they said raises the risk of security threats against the United States.
“From an intelligence and law enforcement perspective, the potential for foreign intelligence forces to recruit government workers is hot,” said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former acting undersecretary for intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security.
At the same time, state and local governments could step up to fill in their offices with that talent as President Donald Trump seeks to shift many roles and responsibilities out of the federal government.
“It would be an easy transition for them and, in the end, benefit the public, which needs their experience now,” Victor Narro, a professor of labor studies at the Labor Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, told ABC News.
Workers ripe for the picking by private sector
Narro, who has worked in Los Angeles city public boards and commissions and on a U.S. Agency for International Development project, said one of the biggest things being overlooked in DOGE’s mass firings is the fact that many of these employees had strong training from top colleges and chose to have a career in public office instead of the private sector.
“A lot of public sector employees give up jobs in the private sector because they care about being a public worker,” he said. “They all know they could have made a lot more money and had more benefits.” What federal workers may lack in salary, they can make up in connections with policymakers and organizations, as well as access to government data and knowledge. It is common for federal workers who leave the public sector to take that knowledge to private sector jobs, such as consulting firms that specialize in the environment, national security and healthcare, Cohen said.
The unprecedented mass firing of federal workers may lead to the creation of new private sector organizations made up of those workers, Cohen said.
“It would be hard to think that those employees wouldn’t be in demand,” he said.
In fact, billionaire Mark Cuban pitched an idea in a post on March 1 that those fired workers band together and start their own consulting company.
“It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably created. They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms. I’m happy to invest and/or help,” the Shark Tank host wrote.
There have been no public updates about Cuban’s proposal since the post as of March 18.
Foreign national threat increased
Cohen said Cuban’s proposal has some merit, but he warned that not everyone offering a helping hand will have altruistic intentions.
In fact, he warned offers could very well be ruses designed by foreign adversaries.
Cohen said counterintelligence operations throughout history have targeted disgruntled federal employees who are left in despair and with no way to pay off their expenses and debts.
Each fired worker, from those at the Social Security Administration, who have knowledge about the U.S. benefits system, to nuclear engineers, could be a perfect asset to intelligence agencies in Russia, China and other nations, Cohen said.
Additionally, general knowledge about the inner workings of federal offices, personalities of top officials and other information could be appealing to adversaries, he said.
“It’s not just classified information that is valuable,” he said.
Cohen said Trump and Musk’s belittling of the federal workers as lazy, inefficient and not useful for the government will help make it easier for foreign recruiters to make their case.
“It’s a standard recruitment tool. You find that sense of grievance, you fan the flames and you get them to cooperate because they are angry at what was done to them,” he said.
Those same operations have also found success through more shady tactics, Cohen said.
He noted that there have been cases where federal employees have unknowingly worked for foreign governments posing as private U.S. companies or have been closely working with legitimate companies already operating in the U.S., clouding evidence of foreign intervention.
“It could be something as simple as offering someone to write a research paper and pay a lot for it or give a speech at a conference,” Cohen said. “From there, it could lead to something long term.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey told reporters at news conferences this week that this is playing out in her state, saying on Wednesday, “What has happened is you have other governments, from China, from the Middle East, from around the world, coming into this country, coming into campuses in Massachusetts and basically saying, ‘Hey the federal government is going to take away your funding and take away your research come to our country. We’ll give you a lab. We’ll set you up. We’ll give you a staff. And you can pioneer the new technologies on our shores.'”
“That’s not putting America first,” she added.
Typically, the federal government prompts workers to do their due diligence and refrain from working with anyone appearing to have foreign government ties, but Cohen said it is going to be difficult to self-police this on such a massive scale.
“The government has to rely on someone’s patriotism and their sense of ethics to willingly not support a foreign intelligence service. But very often, a person may not know they are being recruited,” he said.
State, local governments to the rescue?
The recruitment efforts, however, aren’t limited to foreign entities and private companies. State and local governments are now seeking to fill their offices with the displaced talent.
Earlier this month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the “You’re Hired” campaign, which encourages fired federal workers to go to New York and apply for jobs in various state agencies. The state placed ads in Union Station that redirected them to a website with state job offerings.
“We’re looking for qualified, experienced candidates across a wide variety of fields. I need technologists, I need engineers, I need attorneys, healthcare workers, educators, public policy experts and so many more,” Hochul told reporters at a news conference on March 3.
“I’m in competition for the top attorneys, the top engineers [and] people to work at the Department of Financial Services,” she added. “In a place like New York City, there’s a lot of higher-paying jobs. So these are special people who walk away from those jobs and those opportunities and come here, and I want to let them know that we will take care of them.”
As of March 18, over 200 people have signed up for webinars hosted by the New York State Department of Labor, according to the governor’s office.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, have started similar campaigns.
Narro said it is not surprising that local governments would take the opportunity to fill their offices, given that many are now bracing for extra responsibilities following the DOGE cuts.
At the same time, there is no guarantee that those local governments can take in all of those workers, he said.
“A lot of it depends on the state. You have a better chance of getting a public job in New York versus Iowa because of the number of offices, departments and ultimately the budget,” Narro said.
Cohen and Narro added that Trump’s pledge to give more power to the states, particularly education, but no details on how they would get the funding to do so has also left many states in limbo when it comes to recruitment.
“It’s great that the states are coming up with these programs, but if they can’t commit, you’re going to have more frustrated federal workers,” Cohen said.
Can the damage be undone? Narro noted that the situation with fired federal workers is still fluid as court cases play out and some of the firings have been stopped or reversed.
However, the uncertainty alone could be devastating to the future of the federal workforce.
“People’s families depend on stability, and if they can not keep up with the changing decisions, they may just quit altogether,” Narro said. “I suspect this is what Trump and Musk are seeking to do in their strategy.”
Narro said that even if Trump’s and Musk’s policies are reversed by a future administration, there could be long-term damage.
“In the end of the day, the public loses out the most,” he said. “It’s going to be harder for anyone to consider giving up a private job and dedicating their talents to serving the public if this is how they will be treated.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, meeting at the White House on Monday, were pressed repeatedly on what’s next regarding the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant from Maryland.
Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters in the Oval Office, “It’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio called him a citizen of El Salvador.
Bukele, the self-described “world’s coolest dictator” who has become a key ally in the administration’s controversial migrant deportations, indicated, when a reported asked, that he would not take action to release Abrego Garcia.
“I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,” Bukele said.
The Supreme Court last week ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia. Trump on Friday said, “If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back, I would tell them to do that. I respect the Supreme Court.”
Trump appeared to amend that statement, though, in a social media post over the weekend where he suggested the fate of those deported now rests with Bukele.
“Looking forward to seeing President Bukele, of El Salvador, on Monday! Our Nations are working closely together to eradicate terrorist organizations, and build a future of Prosperity. President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States,” Trump wrote. “These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government.”
The Justice Department argued in court filings that the courts had “no authority” to direct how the executive branch engages in foreign relations and argued the administration could not interfere with El Salvador’s sovereignty. Another hearing is set in the case for Tuesday.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, President Trump said he thought Bukele was “doing a fantastic job” and “taking care of a lot of problems that we have that we really wouldn’t be able to take care of from a cost standpoint.”
“We have some very bad people in that prison, people that should have never been allowed into our country, people that murder drug dealers, some of the worst people on Earth are in that prison and he’s able to do that,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida on Sunday. When pressed further about the alleged human rights abuses reported at El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison CECOT, President Trump said, “I don’t see it. I don’t see that happening.”
The Trump administration has deported hundreds of migrants they allege to be Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, though have done so with seemingly little due process.
Rubio, in a social media post over the weekend, said the efforts continued with another 10 alleged criminals associated with MS-13 and Tren de Aragua deported to El Salvador.
Rubio wrote that the “alliance” between Trump and Bukele “has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.”
Plus, Trump and several officials have floated sending U.S. citizens convicted of violent crimes to the infamous El Salvador prison — something legal experts have said would violate the Constitution.
“The president has discussed this idea quite a few times publicly. He’s also discussed it privately,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week.
“These would be heinous, violent criminals who have broken our nation’s laws repeatedly. And these are violent repeat offenders in American streets,” Leavitt continued.
“The president has said if it’s legal, right, if there is a legal pathway to do that, he’s not sure. We are not sure if there is. It’s an idea that he has simply floated and has discussed, very publicly, as in the effort of transparency,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, in a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine published Friday, claimed he’s already “made 200 deals” on tariffs and said he’s spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the cover story, in which Trump’s discussed his first 100 days in office, the president was asked about White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s prediction of “90 deals in 90 days.”
“I’ve made 200 deals,” Trump said. When asked to confirm that number, Trump said “100%.”
Trump, though, would not elaborate on what countries he’s solidified deals with or the terms. He’s met with various foreign officials at the White House in recent weeks on tariffs and other economic issues, but had not yet announced any agreements.
“I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way,” Trump told Time. “We’ll be finished.”
On the issue of China — which faces the highest tariff rate from the administration — Trump said President Xi has called him.
“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said,
The White House in recent days has softened its stance on China, telling reporters that talks with Beijing were moving in the right direction. But Chinese officials, before Trump’s Time interview was published, disputed the White House’s characterization.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Thursday called the administration’s claims active discussions were happening “fake news.” On Friday, the Jiakun said “China and the United States have not consulted or negotiated on the tariff issue” and “the United States should not confuse the public.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
