Democrat frustration over the federal government shutdown deal is moving beyond the eight Senate Democrats who backed the GOP-led funding bill.
The Hill reported that progressive groups and lawmakers say the episode shows the party needs new leadership.
Those party activists plan to channel that argument into Senate primaries in states such as Maine and Michigan.
None of the eight Democrats who supported the bill face voters in 2026, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is not up again until 2028, although he is absorbing much of the criticism.
Rodell Mollineau, a former senior aide to the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the shutdown deal will haunt candidates viewed as aligned with Schumer.
He said progressive groups believe Schumer helped shape the agreement even though he voted against it.
Many progressives already distrusted Schumer after his March vote for a GOP stopgap measure, and some now argue he either influenced the latest deal or lost control of his caucus.
Those concerns increased after a report that Schumer urged potential 2028 presidential contenders not to attack the agreement.
Six of the eight Democrats who backed the shutdown deal recently won reelection or are retiring, which shifts pressure onto candidates considered friendly to party leadership.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills faces that pressure directly after Schumer endorsed her for the Senate primary against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
She is battling Graham Platner, who has Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ support and who blamed Schumer’s leadership for the shutdown outcome.
Mills criticized the deal, saying Maine voters deserve affordable healthcare rather than promises of votes that may not pass.
In Michigan, Rep. Haley Stevens is widely seen as the establishment-backed candidate and has praised Schumer’s leadership.
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow has taken the opposite approach, calling for Schumer to be replaced and arguing that Democrats must change course.
Strategists view the Maine and Michigan primaries as early tests of whether an anti-establishment message can energize voters.
MoveOn, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Indivisible signaled plans to support that push, with Indivisible announcing it will not back any Senate candidate who refuses to call for Schumer’s departure.
Progressives were already frustrated by Schumer’s refusal to endorse Zohran Mamdani’s successful New York City mayoral campaign, which strengthened calls for new party voices.
Historical examples show leaders can withstand internal criticism, as former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both kept power despite public pushback.
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