Washington – More than 50 advocacy groups from around the country signed a letter delivered today to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, calling on him to resign his party leadership post in the Senate. The letter comes on the heels of Schumer’s recent decision to lend critical support for a Republican budget bill that was opposed by a large majority of his own Senate caucus and all but one Democrat in the House. The letter was facilitated by the national organizations Food & Water Watch and Progressive Democrats of America.

The letter states, in part: During the recent fight over the continuing [budget] resolution, you surrendered one of the very few points of leverage Democrats have to stop the full scale dismantling of key government functions and Musk-Trump’s complete disregard for Congressional actions… Rather than leading, you chose to side with Republicans and allow the passage of the CR, with not a single concession. It is clear there was no strategy around the fight and no communication plan… You have lost the confidence of elected Democrats and you have lost the confidence of our organizations.

“As Trump and Musk seek to dismantle not just the key public health and safety functions of our federal government, but also the fundamental pillars of our democracy itself, we require the unflinching, bold and strategic resistance of every single Democrat in Washington – especially party leaders such as Senator Schumer,” said Mitch Jones, managing director of policy and litigation at Food & Water Watch. “Schumer’s inexplicable surrender and support for a dangerous and cruel MAGA spending bill amounted to a complete dereliction of duty and failure of leadership. For this simple reason, Schumer must step down as Senate majority leader immediately.”

“President Trump is waging an unprecedented assault on our constitutional system of government, consolidating power in the executive branch. The only opportunities Democrats have to block or stall Trump’s agenda are in the Senate, where Republicans do not have the 60 votes necessary to pass legislation,” said Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America. “We need a fearless Senate minority leader who will seize every opportunity to disrupt Trump’s plans. Chuck Schumer has never been a strong negotiator and his capitulation last month over the budget showed he is not the right leader for this moment. Democrats need a new minority leader – one who understands the stakes and will never back down.”

“The past 70 days have shown the gravity of the threat Trump represents, but they also show just how ill-equipped Senator Schumer is to confront that threat,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “If Senator Schumer remains as leader, the best Democrats can hope for is permanent minority status in the Senate, the worst will be the end of our democracy, complete ruin of the climate, and the evisceration of all our bedrock environmental protections.”

Today’s letter represents the latest in a continuing drumbeat of very public, very determined calls from countless elected officials and Democrat-aligned interests throughout the country demanding that Schumer resign his party leadership position since he enabled the Republican budget continuing resolution to pass on March 14.