Republicans accuse Schumer of shutting down the government over AOC primary fears

Republicans have continually blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for shutting down the government to appease the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, as Zohran Mamdani retains the lead in the New York mayoral race and buzz swirls about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s political ambition.

As the government shutdown enters its second week, the political blame game continued Wednesday. Republicans continue to denounce “Schumer Shutdown,” while Schumer blames President Donald Trump and Republicans for shutting down the government.

“This shutdown is nothing more than political cover for Chuck Schumer and the Democrats,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Wednesday. “They’re worried about the Marxist side of the Democratic Party. Marxists are about to elect a mayor in New York. This is Chuck Schumer’s state, and he’s terrified of being challenged by his far left.”

Axios reported last month that Ocasio-Cortez was preparing to run for Schumer’s Senate or presidential seat in 2028, prompting Republicans to accuse Schumer of maintaining a red line on continuing negotiations on resolution (CR) in order to appease the progressive wing of her party.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speak on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

A continuing resolution (CR) is an expansion of current federal funding levels intended to give lawmakers more time to reach a longer-term deal on government spending for the next fiscal year.

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Although the House passed a Republican-backed CR, this bill was blocked in the Senateafter failing repeatedly as Democrats continue to insist on tying any CR to an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025.

Republicans accused Democrats of holding Americans and the government hostage over partisan demands, while Democrats warned that the Republican Party would be responsible for rising health care costs for millions of Americans if enhanced COVID-era subsidies were allowed to expire.

“Real people’s lives are being disrupted so Chuck Schumer can show the far-left Marxists in his party that he’s having some sort of tantrum and fighting Donald Trump because he’s afraid of the far-left part of his political base,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Wednesday.

And Johnson accused Schumer of being a “far-left politician” but that he’s not “left enough for communists.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., looks on during a news conference on the first day of the government shutdown in Washington, Oct. 1, 2025. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Schumer, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has refused to support Mamdani, the self-described democratic socialist who shocked the political establishment when he secured the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor in June.

Mamdani’s political success has highlighted an ideological and generational divide within the Democratic Party after devastating defeats in the 2024 elections.

Meanwhile, Republicans have pointed to Mamdani’s success as evidence of the party’s progression to the far left, with Trump calling Mamdani a “100 percent crazy communist” and, more recently, “my little communist.”

If elected next month, Mamdani, who easily won the support of progressive champions Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., plans to raise taxes on corporations and the top 1 percent of New York City voters to pay for campaign promises such as free buses, rent freezes and city-run grocery stores.

For his part, Mamdani said Trump and Republicans have shut down the government “because they are determined to deprive millions of Americans of their health care, enrich the billionaires they serve and continue the assault on our rights.”

Zohran Mamdani, Democratic candidate for mayor of New York, speaks to supporters during a canvassing kickoff event in Prospect Park on August 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

Republicans have presented Schumer as the face of the government shutdown, but not long ago he faced opposition from members of his own party for voting to keep the government open.

Ocasio-Cortez called Schumer’s decision to vote for the GOP-backed CR to avoid a government shutdown in March a “terrible mistake.”

A few months later, Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., accused Schumer Tuesday of shutting down the government “because he’s afraid of a primary challenge from AOC and a challenge to his position leading the Senate.”

“Chuck Schumer chose to fall back on the radical side of the Democratic Party instead of bringing a solution to the table,” Texas Republican Representative August Pfluger also said on Tuesday.

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Although Republicans blame Schumer, the Senate minority leader continues to blame Trump and Republicans who he says “will not negotiate to resolve the health care crisis facing the American people.”

Schumer, Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.