WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., delivered a forceful rebuke of his party’s response to Republicans’ funding bill, telling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that while he still has confidence in Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the Democratic caucus must move with “urgency” and change tactics.
“What’s important is that we meet this moment. And what I’m telling you is that if we continue to observe norms, if we continue to engage in business as usual, this democracy could be gone,” Murphy told moderator Kristen Welker. “I don’t think we have a year to save American democracy.”
Democrats are coming off of a lackluster election season, and a new NBC News poll shows that the party has reached an all-time low in popularity, with just 27% of registered voters reporting positive views of the party.
When asked why Democrats are not connecting with Americans, Murphy said he thinks “Americans want the Democratic Party to stand up and fight and to take risks.”
“I think Democrats in this country, but I think the broad middle of the public as well, want to see our party fighting in exceptional ways,” Murphy added. “That is the conversation that has to happen inside of the Democratic Party, inside our caucus.”
“If we don’t get that right, if we continue to work with Republicans, if we continue to hand Donald Trump more power, we are going to lose our democracy,” he continued.
His comments come days after Schumer reversed course last week on a GOP-led temporary government funding bill. After saying that Democrats would block the bill, Schumer said he would support letting the bill move forward, leading to a public split among Democrats.
“While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse,” Schumer said in a Senate floor speech last week, explaining his decision about the short-term bill, also known as a continuing resolution, or CR.
He ultimately voted against the bill’s final passage.
Schumer’s move prompted criticism from other Democrats as the party grappled with how to respond to the funding bill. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dodged multiple questions last week about his confidence in Schumer and whether he should remain the party’s leader in the Senate, responding instead with “next question.”
Murphy said Sunday that he still supported Schumer as Democrats’ leader, but added that “the only way that we are going to be effective as a caucus is if we change our tactics.”
“Leader Schumer has a very difficult job. I don’t envy the job that he has,” Murphy said earlier in the interview. “And the question is really for the members of his Democratic caucus: Are we willing to fight? I admit that it would take some risk-tolerant behavior in order to effectively stand up to this president. And so the question really is for my party writ large, are we willing to do the very difficult things necessary to meet this moment?”
Current and former Democratic leaders typically strive to project unity, but Schumer’s move prompted former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to issue a statement urging Democratic senators to instead listen to the party’s top members on the House and Senate Appropriations Committee, who opposed the bill.
While not explicitly naming Schumer, Pelosi referred to a “false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America.”
She added that the “false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.”
Murphy opposed Schumer’s move in a statement, though he too did not identify the Democratic leader by name.
“But by passing a bill that makes their plan easier to implement, Democrats risk putting a bipartisan veneer of endorsement on their campaign to give our government to the billionaires and to destroy the rule of law,” Murphy said. “And I just won’t be a part of that.”
