Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Mocked Over Poll Blaming Democrats for Shutdown

At a recent event, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed a New York Times/Siena College poll showing that many Americans blame Democrats for the government shutdown, calling the poll biased and prompting laughter from Republicans.

Schumer argued that other polls show Republicans are to blame, but Republicans fired back, mocking his dismissal of the New York Times as unreliable.

Democratic leaders, including Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have pushed for extending Affordable Care Act tax credits and taxpayer-funded health care, including for undocumented immigrants—a demand sharply rejected by Republicans and the Trump administration.

Vice President JD Vance criticized Democrats for seeking “massive amounts of money” for illegal immigrant health care amid Americans’ struggles.

The NYT/Siena poll revealed only 27% of Americans supported Democrats shutting down the government over their demands, indicating broad opposition to a shutdown.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump have blamed Democrats for the shutdown’s consequences. Trump is working with OMB director Russ Vought to identify federal programs to cut during the shutdown, calling many “Democrat Agencies” political “SCAMS.”

Agencies are already delaying payments and reducing operations as shutdown protocols kick in.

Johnson emphasized that the tough decisions on which programs continue are made by OMB leadership and are an unenviable task, with Vought tasked with determining which programs remain funded during the shutdown.