Inside and outside the Senate, Democrats begin to lose faith in Schumer

CNN interviews with three-dozen Democratic senators, members of the House , top aides and other prominent leaders detail a cratering of support.

Many starting to feel that he can't be the party’s future and shouldn’t be their present.

Critics from across traditional Democratic divides of ideology, geography and age see a pile of excuses and false choices.

A leader of a major Democratic -aligned organization said Schumer has now made himself irrelevant.

Schumer said he was grappling with how different Trump is as a president now, versus when they had their showdown fights in his first term.

He said Republican leaders in Congress were trying to avoid a shutdown, while now he saw them as egging one on.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is the chair of the Senate Democrats ’ campaign arm for the 2026 elections.

Several of her colleagues and Democratic operatives told CNN they did not see how she could appeal to donors and voters who wanted more of a fight.

By then, Schumer would be 77 , in Washington for as long as Joe Biden had been when elected president, and have weathered years of compromises with Trump .