Schumer Mocked After Laughably Dismissing Poll Showing Democrats at Fault for Shutdown
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) became the subject of ridicule this week after he brushed off a New York Times/Siena College poll revealing that a majority of Americans blame Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
The awkward exchange unfolded on the Senate floor just before the shutdown officially began, when Senate Democrats voted down a House-passed continuing resolution that would have kept the government funded.
“Now I know the leader is going to show a poll that says that Democrats will be blamed for the shutdown,” Schumer said, referencing the New York Times/Siena survey. “There are many more polls that show Republicans are blamed. The question in that poll is biased.”
When he went on to add, “In the New York Times, but it’s biased,” the chamber broke into laughter — including many Republicans who found his attempt to discredit his own friendly media outlet ironic. “I don’t always believe the New York Times … You can be sure of that. Neither do you,” Schumer added, drawing more laughter from across the aisle.
Democrats’ Demands Spark Outrage
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have spent weeks pushing the Trump administration to expand Affordable Care Act tax credits and guarantee taxpayer-funded health care “for all.”
President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance rejected the proposal outright, warning that Democrats were attempting to secure taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants under the guise of “universal coverage.”
“If you look at the original they did with this negotiation, it was a $1.5 trillion spending package, basically saying the American people want to give massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills,” Vice President Vance said following a White House meeting with congressional leaders.
While Democrats remain split over whether to force a shutdown to achieve their demands, Republicans and independents have largely aligned against them — calling the move reckless and politically self-destructive.
According to the New York Times/Siena poll, conducted just before the October 1 deadline, only 27 percent of Americans supported Democrats shutting down the government to push their spending priorities.
White House Moves to Cut Waste
As the shutdown takes effect, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) placed full responsibility on Democrats for the disruption.
“This is the way the system works. This is [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer’s decision, is to hand … the keys to the kingdom to the president,” Johnson said. “He has put himself in that situation, and it’s completely unnecessary. The president takes no pleasure in this.”
Meanwhile, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he would meet with Russ Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and architect of Project 2025, to identify federal agencies and programs that could be permanently cut.
“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought … to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” the President wrote.
He added, “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Under Vought’s direction, the administration has already frozen billions in funding for nonessential projects — including New York City’s costly subway infrastructure expansions — while instructing agencies to prioritize essential services and halt wasteful spending.
Johnson said Vought “takes no pleasure” in the responsibility of determining which programs stay and which go, but emphasized that “this is a necessary process to protect the American taxpayer and restore fiscal sanity.”