Axelrod: Schumer Won’t Be Democrat Leader in 2027
Democratic strategist David Axelrod warned on Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is “in bigger trouble now” with his party’s left flank and predicted that his time as the top Democrat in the Senate will likely end before 2027.
Axelrod’s comments came during a CNN segment analyzing the political fallout after eight Senate Democrats joined Republicans in supporting a deal to reopen the government — a move that exposed deep internal divisions within the party. The House is expected to take up the bipartisan funding measure on Wednesday.
“I think he’s been in trouble. I think he is in bigger trouble now,” Axelrod said when asked if Schumer’s position was at risk with progressives. “Sen. Schumer has been there since 1982. My guess is that he won’t be leader of the party in 2027, after this election, unless something really surprising happens.”
Republicans, meanwhile, have been eager to capitalize on the chaos. They’ve labeled the budget impasse the “Schumer shutdown,” blaming the Senate leader for bowing to the far-left members of his caucus rather than working toward a compromise sooner.
Even though Schumer himself opposed the continuing resolution that passed, Axelrod said the optics still leave him politically weakened. “We’re talking about the internal strife within the Democratic Party,” he noted, emphasizing that the clash reflects growing frustration among progressives who view Schumer as out of step with their agenda.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has seized on the turmoil, framing it as a “Schumer vs. Bernie Sanders proxy war” that will shape the 2026 Senate races. “The Chuck Schumer vs. Bernie Sanders proxy war is raging across the 2026 Senate map, and calls for an end to Schumer’s reign are the radical left’s new battle cry,” said NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez. She added that Schumer’s biggest challenge may be “electing enough Democrats that will let him stay in power.”
Despite that, the senator at the center of the alleged “proxy war” is not joining the rebellion. “You can argue, and I can make the case, that Chuck Schumer has done a lot of bad things,” said Bernie Sanders in a recent interview. “But I think getting rid of him — who’s going to replace him?”
{Matzav.com}
