Democratic senator comes very close to calling on Schumer to step aside

Michael Bennet is the first to hint at the need for new Senate Democratic leadership

Sen. Michael Bennet stopped just short of saying that Chuck Schumer should no longer lead the Senate Democratic caucus, but he did say the senator should know when it’s time to step away.

Bennet held a town hall with Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado in Golden, where he was asked about Schumer’s decision to support a continuing resolution that House Republicans shoved through in order to avoid a government shutdown.

One attendee asked about Bennet reportedly yelling at Schumer during a Senate Democratic luncheon leading up to the vote for the stopgap spending bill and whether he felt Schumer should be replaced.

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado is the latest Democrat to chastise Senate leadership. (Getty Images)

“I would say, maybe not yelling at him,” Bennet said to laughs. Bennet said that Democrats needed to better explain the devastating consequences of Donald Trump’s actions in his second term, and Elon Musk’s slashing of government spending through his Department of Government Efficiency.

“I think we're going to have another opportunity very soon to make it very clear this fight around Medicaid,” he said. “This fight that Elon Musk and the rest of these social media knuckleheads are having to make sure that they can give their stocks for free to their nepo children and to preserve their tax benefits.”

Many Democratic voters have expressed anger at Schumer in the wake of his decision to support the bill and prevent a shutdown, calling for him to step aside from his perch as minority leader. Only 10 Democrats voted for the stopgap spending bill that will keep the government open until the end of September.

“I do think on the leadership question, it's always better to, you know, examine whether folks are in the right place, and we're certainly going to have that conversation,” Bennet said.

He pointed out how he was the first Democratic senator to say that former President Joe Biden would lose to Trump after Biden’s poor debate performance in late June.

“And in dodging your question, let me just say it's important for people to know you know when it's time to to go,” he said. But Bennet stopped short of calling for Schumer to step aside.

“I think in the case of Joe Biden, and we're going to have conversations, I'm sure, in the foreseeable future, about about all the Democratic leadership.”

Schumer’s decision caused significant pushback among both House and Senate Democrats. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who worked with Schumer during Trump’s first presidency and during the first two years of Biden’s presidency, said she would have handled the negotiations differently.

“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” she said during a Tuesday press conference. “I think that’s what happened the other day.”

The New York Democratic leader has conducted a media blitz in promoting his book about antisemitism. But he had to cancel in-person book events for fear of protests.