Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) backed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) leadership on Sunday but said the caucus “must change our tactics” to be effective.
“I still support Senator Schumer as leader,” Murphy told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”
“But, I think the only way that we are going to be effective as a caucus is if we change our tactics,” he added. “And we have to have a conversation inside our caucus to make sure that we are going to do that.”
On Friday, a small group of Senate Democrats voted to advance a Republican-crafted funding bill despite intense opposition from many in their party. The group included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who received blowback from prominent progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) after he said he would vote to advance the bill.
Murphy also said Sunday that Americans want Democrats to “take risks right now” to “save our democracy” after a group of upper chamber Democrats helped avoid a government shutdown via voting to advance the funding bill.
“While I totally understand my colleagues who didn’t want to catapult us into a shutdown, I actually think that the American people would’ve understood that Republicans have an obligation to negotiate with Democrats,” Murphy said.
“This is the first full-year spending bill since I’ve been in Congress that was written only by the Republican Party. So, yes, it would’ve been a risk. I understand the decision that many of my Democratic colleagues made, but I think the American people want us to take risks right now in order to save our democracy,” the Connecticut Democrat added.
Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) also said Sunday on NewsNation that he believes “wanting to see Democrats stand their ground when this administration’s doing dangerous things is common sense, and it’s not just good politics, it’s good policy for this country.”
“And again, I’m a guy who believes we’ll find common ground when we can, but you got to stand your ground when it’s time to fight for your people,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.
