Leading Senate Democrat tells Fox News 'it's time ... for new leadership,' as Schumer faces growing pressure
Amid a rising tide of calls from House Democrats and others in the party to remove Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., from his longtime post as Senate Democratic leader, a top...
By Fox News · Fox News
Amid a rising tide of calls from House Democrats and others in the party to remove Sen. Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., from his longtime post as Senate Democratic leader, a top Democratic senator says it's time for "new leadership" in the party. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, speaking one-on-one with Fox News Digital during a stop in New Hampshire, said it's also a moment for a younger generation of Democratic leaders to "step up the stage." Booker was interviewed on Friday, four days after seven Senate Democrats and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the party, bucked Senate Democratic leaders and voted with the majority Republicans to end the longest federal government shutdown in history. Plenty of progressives and center-left Democrats have pilloried the deal to end the shutdown, which didn't include the Democrats' top priority: an agreement to extend expiring subsidies that make health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, known as the ACA or Obamacare, more affordable to millions of Americans. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR CALLS FOR 'MORE EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP' AS SCHUMER FACES MOUNTING PRESSURE And even though he opposed the agreement, Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, has faced calls from an increasing number of party members to step down due to his inability to keep Senate Democrats unified. But to date, no Senate Democrat has joined those calls for Schumer to step down. After the final congressional vote to end the shutdown, Booker wrote that "the Democratic Party needs change. It needs a new generation of leaders to stand up to Trump." SCHUMER FACES FURY FROM THE LEFT OVER DEAL TO END SHUTDOWN Asked if those comments were directed at Schumer, Booker said, "I'm pointing these comments at anybody who will listen to me." "Chuck Schumer's generation, Nancy Pelosi's generation, John Lewis's generation. They have so much to be proud of. It is time, though, for new leadership. The other generations, X, millennials, Z, — it's time for us…