NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer postponed a book tour scheduled for this week amid a backlash over his decision to end a blockade against a Republican spending plan to avert a shutdown.
Risa Heller, a spokesperson for the New York senator, confirmed the decision Monday. She cited security concerns and said the book tour would be rescheduled.
Activists have been organizing protests at Schumer’s book tour events since he announced his decision. Schumer last week first announced a blockade against the Republican spending bill and then the next day retreated.
Democrats had sought to use the rare leverage the minority party had ahead of a potential funding lapse to impose limits on firings of federal workers and elimination of federal agencies by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump.
In explaining his reversal, Schumer argued a government shutdown would have given the Trump administration more leeway to close agencies and dismiss workers.
Schumer’s book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” about the rise in antisemitism in this century, is scheduled to be released Tuesday. The first stop of the book tour had been scheduled for Monday evening in Baltimore, followed by events later this week in Washington. Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish American in the US government.
Several progressive activist groups have called on him to resign his leadership post following his reversal.
“You surrendered,” the progressive group Indivisible wrote in a letter from more than 80 of its New York state chapters. “We’ve demanded you fight against Trump, not give him legislative or political wins.”
No Democratic senators, however, have called on Schumer to step down. A number of them said publicly that they respected the party leader’s decision even if they came to a different conclusion.
Some progressive activists have called for challenging Schumer in his next primary, though he doesn’t face reelection until 2028.