Scott Bessent Hammers Chuck Schumer Over Shutdown: U.S. Held Hostage to His Poll Numbers'

"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent torched Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for holding the American people hostage to his poll numbers and jibed that the Trump administration was instead negotiating with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) a potential future primary challenger who is nipping at his heels during a Thursday morning appearance on CNBC. The Senate failed to pass a continuing funding resolution on Tuesday which resulted in a federal government shut down that began on Wednesday morning."

"Chuck Schumer did the right thing in the spring and led the Senate to a clean CR. What we've got here is the House has passed a clean CR, the Republicans have the votes in the Senate, and he will not allow his members to come across, the treasury secretary said. And what's changed since then is his poll numbers."

"So, the president, Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Leader Thune, they're not negotiating with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, they're negotiating with Representative Ocasio-Cortez because she's nipping at his heels. And so, the American people are being held hostage by Chuck Schumer's poll numbers. And we're starting to see some of the moderate, the very few moderate members left in the Democratic Party in the Senate drift toward wanting a solution, Chuck Schumer's blocking it, he added."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of prioritizing poll numbers over passing a continuing resolution, resulting in a federal government shutdown. Bessent said the House passed a clean CR and Republicans had Senate votes, but Schumer would not allow members to cross, and that moderates were drifting toward a solution. He claimed the administration was negotiating with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rather than Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries because Ocasio-Cortez posed a political threat. Bessent blamed Democrats for the shutdown, warned of political fallout, and mocked Schumer and Jeffries as caricatures of New York City machine Democrats.

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