Senate GOP Leader Condemns Schumer’s Compromise with Radical Democrats Amid Shutdown Crisis

By Jim Thomas | Wednesday, 08 October 2025 07:17 PM EDT
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., accused Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of yielding to the Democratic Party’s most extreme left during the ongoing government shutdown crisis on Newsmax. The Senate failed for the sixth time on Wednesday to advance funding bills, as Republicans and Democrats exchanged blame over the stalemate entering its second week.

During an appearance on “The Record With Greta Van Susteren,” Barrasso claimed Democrats were endangering Americans by refusing to resolve the shutdown. “Democrats are playing a dangerous game, and people are getting hurt in the process,” he said when asked about potential bipartisan movement. He cited a Washington Post editorial titled “Democratic leaders play a dangerous game” to support his claims.

Barrasso highlighted the human cost of the deadlock, including military members unpaid and families relying on food assistance. “All of those things are real people getting hurt because the Democrats will not do now what they did 13 times when Joe Biden was president—pass a continuing resolution to fund the government at current levels,” he stated. He alleged that Democrats’ refusal stemmed from animosity toward President Donald Trump, asserting, “They can’t stand him, and they have to show their terrorist base of their party that they’re fighting him.”

The Wyoming Republican accused Schumer of surrendering leadership to the Democratic Party’s radical wing. “Chuck Schumer has essentially set up a war room,” Barrasso said, adding that liberal factions had pressured Schumer to shut down the government to protect his position. He referenced Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayoral candidate, as symbols of this ideological shift. “This is wrong. He needs to stop,” Barrasso said of Schumer’s perceived capitulation.

Barrasso urged Democrats to back the GOP’s funding measure, which passed the House but fell short in the Senate by a 54-45 vote. “People are hurting, and it’s incumbent upon the Democrats now to open the government so more damage isn’t done,” he concluded.