{"id":47772,"date":"2026-04-17T12:10:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47772"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:10:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:10:57","slug":"you-are-out-of-touch-schumer-faces-new-calls-to-step-aside-after-israel-weapons-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/you-are-out-of-touch-schumer-faces-new-calls-to-step-aside-after-israel-weapons-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You Are Out of Touch\u2019: Schumer Faces New Calls to Step Aside After Israel Weapons Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Senate<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference in the US Capitol on April 14, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Bill Clark\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s well past time for him to step aside for leaders who actually represent the views of the party\u2019s base.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apr 16, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Chuck Schumer<\/a> faced fresh calls to step aside as the Senate Democratic leader on Wednesday after he broke with the overwhelming majority of his caucus and voted against a pair of resolutions aimed at preventing the Trump administration<\/a> from selling more US bombs and bulldozers to Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Schumer, you are out of touch with the base of this party, and with your own caucus,\u201d Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a> (D-Calif.), who first called on Schumer to resign as Democratic leader last year, said in a short video<\/a> posted to social media<\/a> following Wednesday\u2019s votes<\/a>. \u201cStep aside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Talk Is Cheap\u2019: 100 Arrested at Sit-In Demanding Schumer, Gillibrand Vote No on More Arms for Israel<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"US-POLITICS-SANDERS\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Enough Is Enough\u2019: Sanders Moves to Force Votes Against Trump Arms Sales to Israel<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The two resolutions, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-Vt.), called for halting the sale of around $450 million worth of bulldozers, 1,000-pound bombs, and related military equipment to the Israeli government, which has repeatedly used American weaponry to commit war crimes<\/a> in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon<\/a>, and Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite facing record support from the Senate Democratic caucus\u2014with 40 votes to block the sale of bulldozers and 36 votes to block the sale of bombs\u2014the resolutions failed to pass, as Senate Republicans<\/a> united against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But strong Democratic opposition to new US weapons sales to Israel was seen as evidence that the party is slowly catching up to its base, which overwhelmingly supports<\/a> restricting American military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that 40 of 47 Democratic senators voted to withhold military hardware from Israel is a new high-water mark in holding Israel accountable for violating US and international law<\/a>,\u201d said<\/a> Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams went on to rebuke Schumer, who has led the Senate Democrats for nearly a decade, for opposing the resolutions \u201cagainst the supermajority of his own caucus and Democratic voters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s well past time for him to step aside for leaders who actually represent the views of the party\u2019s base,\u201d said<\/a> Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action and a New York City<\/a> resident, said Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand<\/a> (D-NY)\u2014who also voted against both resolutions\u2014\u201care betraying their constituents and woefully out of line with the Democratic voter base.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of sending the bombs that Israel uses to commit war crimes<\/a>, the people of New York want our representatives to invest in lifesaving policies here at home,\u201d said Miller. \u201cWe need to stop arming Israel so that the people of Palestine<\/a>, Lebanon, and Iran, and across the region, can live. Millions of lives depend on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The votes on the Israeli arms measures came after the Senate rejected another war powers resolution<\/a> aimed at withdrawing US forces from the illegal assault on Iran, which President Donald Trump<\/a> launched without congressional approval\u2014and in partnership with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2014in late February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumer vocally supported<\/a> the Iran war powers resolution. But one of his colleagues, Sen. Ed Markey<\/a> (D-Mass.), said the efforts to end the US-Israeli war on Iran and the push to halt weapons sales to Israel are interconnected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA vote to approve arms sales to Israel at this time would be seen as a message of approval for Trump and Netanyahu\u2019s disastrous war against Iran. I will not send that message,\u201d Markey said in a statement late Wednesday. \u201cWhy would we send American military weapons that could prolong, escalate, or worsen this horrible situation in the Middle East? I say no more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J Street, the pro-Israel liberal advocacy organization, similarly connected the two fights following Wednesday\u2019s votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe continue to oppose Trump and Netanyahu\u2019s war of choice against Iran, and applaud those senators whose principled stand in today\u2019s vote reflects the American public\u2019s strong opposition to both the Iran war and to Israel\u2019s actions in Lebanon,\u00a0Gaza<\/a>, and the\u00a0West Bank<\/a>\u00a0that undermine efforts for peace in the region,\u201d said Jeremy Ben-Ami, the group\u2019s president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference in the US Capitol on April 14, 2026.  (Photo by Bill Clark\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images) \u201cIt\u2019s well past time for him to step aside for leaders who actually represent the views of the party\u2019s base.\u201d Jake Johnson… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47772"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47773,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47772\/revisions\/47773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}