Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attends a news conference on Capitol Hill hours before the government shutdown took effect on September 30, 2025. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Washington —

As eight senators in Chuck Schumer’s caucus broke ranks to side with Republicans and vote to end the government shutdown fight he had engineered, the New York Democrat was on the phone trying to make it clear it wasn’t his fault.

Dialing governors and influential party leaders, Schumer had a basic request: attack Republicans over rising health care costs, not Senate Democrats or him. Schumer knew he’d have to rebut accusations that he secretly guided the deal, while others would see him as not being able to control his caucus.

He’d kept Senate Democrats united longer than they wanted to be, Sch

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