Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., right, speak before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Washington.Shawn Thew/Pool via Associated Press
- By James Salazar | Examiner staff writer
- Mar 17, 2025 Updated Mar 18, 2025 (SFExaminer.com)
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has postponed an appearance at San Francisco’s Sydney Goldstein Theater this weekend, citing security concerns in delaying his weeklong national book tour as he faces criticism from Democratic voters and politicians for voting to move forward Republican spending legislation last week.
City Arts and Lectures, which was co-presenting the event with Manny’s of the Mission, wrote on its website that Schumer’s tour promoting the book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” had been “postponed for security reasons.” The Arab Resource & Organizing Center had planned a protest of the event, citing Schumer’s support of Israel, which organizers said would include sidewalk chalk art and a picket line.
The New York senator has faced growing criticism from the party’s liberal wing — and his peers on Capitol Hill — since he and nine other Democratic senators voted to advance a six-month spending bill that passed along party lines in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Schumer was not one of the two Democratic caucus members who voted to pass the legislation, but Schumer and his peers’ vote overcame the Senate’s 60-vote threshhold to advance the bill to a floor vote and all but ensured its passage in the Republican-controlled chamber. The New York senator said the bill’s passage was preferable to a government shutdown.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate” if the government shut down, Schumer said of the president and Trump’s top campaign donor, whose Department of Government Efficiency has sought to slash federal spending and the government workforce.
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi stopped shy last week of directly criticizing Schumer’s move to advance the legislation. The bill — which discontinued $890 million in grants for health facilities, $293 million for emergency-preparedness projects and provided nearly $10 billion in funding for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement — constituted a “devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America,” she said in a statement.
EX // TOP STORIES
Lawsuits, recalls and rallies: Great Highway saga is peak SF politics
The drama playing out of The City’s west-side highway is emblematic of its political moment, Adam Shanks writes in an analysis
One man’s odds and ends fill former Hearst plant
The building now holds an event space an antique store specializing in items once thought disposable, and its owner wants to welcome others in
Meet The City’s newest additions to the Michelin Guide
San Francisco now has 171 recognized restaurants
“Democrats must not buy into this false choice,” the longtime San Francisco congresswoman said. “We must fight back for a better way.”
California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff voted against advancing the bill and against the legislation itself. Padilla called the measure “a Republican power grab” advancing “this Trump-Musk billionaire agenda.” Schiff said the bill’s passage Friday made it “a bad day for the Democratic Party.”
Community organizers spoke out against Schumer over the weekend. In a statement, Indivisible San Francisco, a progressive grassroots organization formed in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election in 2016, called on Schumer to step down from his role. The organization wrote that he “failed to keep the Democratic Senators united in this unique situation where they could have placed real limits on the dismantling of the federal government.”
“He is not fit to be the Minority Leader if he is not willing to oppose Trump’s destructive agenda,” Indivisible San Francisco wrote.
The organization said that it worked with the Indivisible East Bay chapter to urge Padilla and Schiff to vote against the measure. Group members said that while they were “grateful” for Padilla and Schiff’s votes, “without effective leadership, their opposition and our hard work was lost,” Indivisible San Francisco wrote.
In an NBC News poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted before the spending legislation passed, 65% of Democrats said they wanted congressional party members to “stick to their positions even if this means not getting things done in Washington.” In April of Trump’s first term, 33% of Democrats polled advocated for such a stance.
