California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that the eight senators who voted with Republicans to end the government shutdown are "still playing by the old rules" of the political game even as President Donald Trump has rewritten them.
Newsom, a Democrat, reportedly made the remarks at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.
The Trump administration did not send an official delegation to the international climate change summit.
"I'm not coming in to punch anybody in the face, but I'm not pleased that, in the face of this invasive species that is Donald Trump, who's completely changed the rules of the game, that we're still playing by the old rules of the game," Newsom said, according to The Associated Press.
The eight senators who voted with Republicans late Sunday to advance a House-passed stopgap funding bill and reopen federal agencies after the longest shutdown in U.S. history are John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Angus King, I-Maine.
"I'm really more alarmed than, it appears, the eight members of my party are in the United States Senate," Newsom told the AP about his commitment to countering Trump. "I'm much more alarmed about the future of our country and the world we're trying to build than they are."
While Sunday's vote did not carry assurances that the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies would be extended — the Democrats' stated reason for the shutdown fight — Senate Republicans agreed to vote on the matter in December.
"Pathetic," Newsom's press office wrote Sunday on X after the vote. "This isn't a deal. It's a surrender. Don't bend the knee!"
Newsom's comments come amid a growing chorus of condemnation from within the party over Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's leadership.
In the House, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., expressed concern about a "leadership vacuum," while Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said, "Sen. Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced."
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, told MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" on Monday that Sunday was "a very bad night" but questioned who would replace Schumer if he were ousted from his post.
"Look, what you got right now, Chuck Schumer is part of the establishment, and I'm sorry to say that many people in the Democratic caucus are part of that," Sanders said. "I would say we have eight or nine out of 47 people who I would consider to be progressives."
"So, you can argue, and I can make the case, that Chuck Schumer has done a lot of bad things, but I think getting rid of him, who's going to replace him?" he asked.
About 80% of progressive group MoveOn's members surveyed said Schumer should step down from his leadership role.
"With Donald Trump and the Republican Party doubling healthcare premiums, weaponizing our military against us, and ripping food away from children, MoveOn members cannot accept weak leadership at the helm of the Democratic Party," said Katie Bethell, the group's political action chief.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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