Chuck Schumer’s “Strategic Decisions” Would Leave Americans Less Safe and Poorer

Senate Democrats Under Schumer’s Leadership Have Tried to Raise Taxes, Degrade America’s Homeland Security, and Stall the Basic Duties of Congress - All in the Name of Partisan Politics

AFTER SUSTAINED ATTACKS FROM HIS FAR-LEFT BASE, SENATE DEMOCRAT LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) HAS UNITED DEMOCRATS BY PURSUING AN UNPRECEDENTED CAMPAIGN OF OBSTRUCTION, NO MATTER THE IMPACT ON NATIONAL SECURITY

“Senate Democrats faced intense intraparty backlash last year after they worked with Republicans to fund the government without extracting concessions, such as an extension of lapsed federal health insurance subsidies.” (NOTUS: How Senate Democrats Got Their Mojo Back – 6/12/26)

“But now, many on the left are giving Senate Democrats credit for uniting over the past six months against congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump.” (NOTUS: How Senate Democrats Got Their Mojo Back – 6/12/26)

Schumer “ticked through moves he oversaw in the past year…” (Politico: Senate Democrats’ political fortunes have improved. ‘It didn’t happen by accident,’ Schumer says. – 6/11/26)

“We made a lot of strategic decisions that got us to this place — it didn’t happen by accident.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Just over the past few weeks alone, those “strategic decisions” include:
- Standing “firm against giving tens of billions in new funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.” (NOTUS: How Senate Democrats Got Their Mojo Back – 6/12/26)

- Last week, for the first time in the program’s history, Democrats let FISA Section 702 lapse, which is America’s most powerful counterterrorism tool. (Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio: post on X – 6/11/26; NBC News’ Frank Thorp V: post on X – 6/11/26; CBS News: Trump signs short-term FISA extension; surveillance law will be maintained through April 30 – 4/18/26)

- “Democrats are extending their partisan approach to the fiscal 2027 spending bills, now being drafted in the Senate. Republicans were forced to cancel multiple markups of the annual bills over the past few weeks after failing to reach a top-line spending agreement… The dispute has some senators predicting another government shutdown later this year.” (NOTUS: How Senate Democrats Got Their Mojo Back – 6/12/26)

“The risky strategy has consequences when government programs go dark, and Democrats have little to show for it so far in terms of policy victories.”
“But the hardball approach has helped unite Democrats inside and outside of the Capitol…”
“The standoff over FISA has won Senate Democrats some respect with base voters revolted a year ago.” (The Associated Press: Emboldened Senate Democrats block even bipartisan bills in hardball approach to counter Trump – 6/13/26)

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR AMERICANS: DEMOCRATS VOTED FOR HIGHER TAXES, OPEN BORDERS, AND MULTIPLE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS

Last summer, Democrats uniformly voted against the Working Families Tax Cuts law, which made permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Had this legislation failed, Americans making less than $400,000 would have been subjected to a $2.6 trillion tax increase. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo Highlights Tax Wins for Hardworking Americans and Main Street – 6/28/25; H.R. 1: Roll Call Vote #372 – 7/1/25)

In an attempt to defund border security enforcement altogether, Democrats have voted against several bills funding border security enforcement throughout this Congress:
- As part of voting against the Working Families Tax Cuts law last summer, Democrats opposed $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security efforts. (CBS News: Trump's "big, beautiful bill" gives ICE unprecedented funds to ramp up mass deportation campaign – 7/10/25;U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Secretary Noem Commends President Trump and One Big Beautiful Bill Signing into Law: Historic Win for the American People and the Rule of Law – 7/4/25)

- Then, Democrats forced two unprecedented government shutdowns lasting a total of 119 days (76-day partial and 43-day full) that degraded homeland security and harmed the lives of border security officers who keep the country’s borders safe. (CBS News: Trump signs bill funding DHS, ending record-breaking 76-day shutdown – 4/30/26; Senate Majority Leader: Democrats Still Have No Appetite to Fund Law Enforcement – 4/28/26; Politico: ‘Six months to catch up’: What the shutdown cost DHS – 5/2/26; Politico: Over 1,000 TSA officers have quit amid shutdown – 4/27/26)

- And earlier this month, Senate Democrats tried everything to block three years’ worth of funding for ICE and Border Patrol in the Secure America Act, a solution that was only necessary because of Democrats’ refusal to fund those two agencies via the regular appropriations process. (CNBC: Trump signs $70 billion immigration funding bill after months of delay – 6/10/26; U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs: Chairman Paul Releases HSGAC Portion of Reconciliation Text – 5/4/26; U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Senate Judiciary Committee Releases Updated Text of the Secure America Act – 6/3/26)

Before voting to defund law enforcement and border security, Democrats voted to allow illegal immigrants to continue receiving health benefits. (Motion to Waive re: Cornyn Amdt. No. 2705: Roll Call Vote #342 – 6/30/25; Motion to Waive re: Blackburn Amdt. No. 2401: Roll Call Vote #345 – 6/30/25)

AMERICANS SEE AND FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT DEMOCRATS HAVE DONE – AND DON’T SUPPORT THEIR OPEN-BORDER, DEFUND-THE-POLICE POLICIES

Democrats’ strategy of blanket obstruction was all for purely political purposes:
- Democrats “said they hoped that their handling of the fight over ICE funding would help reverse the deeply negative views many Democratic voters hold about their elected officials and pave the way for a blue wave in November.” (NOTUS: How Senate Democrats Got Their Mojo Back – 6/12/26)

- “It’s a little harder to make the argument that we’re feckless.” – Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
- “[T]he DHS fight was an important one, because people saw us have a backbone.” – Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
- “Murphy is part of a self-described ‘fight club’ of Senate Democrats that has pushed for a more aggressive approach from Schumer and the party organs he controls.” (Politico: Senate Democrats’ political fortunes have improved. ‘It didn’t happen by accident,’ Schumer says. – 6/11/26)

Americans understand that Democrats have become the party of open borders and don’t support it. They instead support deporting criminal illegal immigrants:
- The latest Harvard-Harris poll found that 56% of Americans, including nearly half of Democrats polled, believe that Democrats stand for open borders. (Harvard-Harris Poll – May 2026)

- Yet, in the same poll, 80% of those polled support “[d]eporting immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes.” (Harvard-Harris Poll – May 2026)

(Harvard-Harris Poll – May 2026)

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