Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) has postponed his book tour scheduled this week in Baltimore, New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia amid an intense backlash from fellow Democrats over his controversial vote to advance a House Republican-drafted funding package that cuts deeply into non-defense programs.
A spokesperson for Schumer’s book tour said that it would be rescheduled due to “security concerns.”
Schumer was scheduled to barnstorm East Coast cities this week to promote his new book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning.”
He was slated to speak at Central Library on Cathedral Street in Baltimore Monday evening, at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York City on Tuesday, at a Politics and Prose event at the Sixth & I synagogue in D.C. on Wednesday and at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Those plans are now on hold indefinitely amid a torrent of criticism the Democratic leader has drawn after announcing last week he would vote to advance a GOP-drafted funding bill to avert a government shutdown that received only one Democratic vote in the House.
“Due to security concerns, Senator Schumer’s book events are being rescheduled,” said a spokesperson for the book tour.
Some progressive activists had circulated the schedule of Schumer’s events and had suggested their allies attend to vent their displeasure over the leader’s vote.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said many Democrats felt betrayed by Schumer’s vote.
“There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” she told reporters Thursday. “And this is not just about progressive Democrats. This is across the board, the entire party.”
Ocasio-Cortez argued that Schumer had undercut House Democrats in districts that President Trump won in 2024 who took very tough votes against the bill.
“I think it is a huge slap in the face,” she said.
Schumer defended his vote on the Senate floor last week, arguing if Democrats had blocked the House-passed bill it would have triggered a government shutdown that would have further empowered Trump and Elon Musk, who is leading the administration’s effort to slash the federal workforce and shutter federal agencies.
The Democratic leader said while the House bill was “very bad,” he argued the consequences of a government shutdown would be “much, much worse.”
“For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option,” he acknowledged, noting it was “deeply partisan.”
But he warned that a shutdown would give Trump and Musk “carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can now.”
He warned it would give the administration “full authority to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel ‘non-essential,’ furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired.”
