Chuck Schumer facing 'uphill fight' amid leadership doubts: 'Matter of when, not if'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is facing calls for his replacement after his controversial decision to help advance President Donald Trump's recent stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, but not all Democrats are prepared to push him out just yet, giving him some time to prove himself. 

For some in the party, Schumer is ruling on borrowed time.

"Something’s [got to] give," former Democrat pollster Adam Carlson told Fox News Digital. "And while I would expect him to want to hold onto his leadership, I suspect the outright calls and whispers from his colleagues for him to be replaced as minority leader are real." 

"It’s a matter of when, not if," he claimed. 

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The influence he has lost among his own caucus is evident "by dozens of Senate Dems, including those in Trump-won states, coming out against the CR (continuing resolution) even after Schumer came out in favor of it," Carlson said. 

After Schumer's vote this month, and the verbal shellacking and protests that followed, he told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday, "Look, I'm not stepping down."

Following his vote, protests emerged outside his home and offices in Washington and New York, and he began to face calls for his ousting as leader and threats of primary challenges down the road. 

"You know, sometimes when you're a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve," Schumer further told "Meet the Press."

The Democrat also pushed back on suggestions that his situation has parallels with that of former President Joe Biden, who was pressured to end his presidential campaign with just months until the election last year. 

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But for the Democrat strategists looking at his circumstances, the similarities are clear.

Co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) Adam Green told Fox News Digital, "I don't think his recent caving was a June debate moment for Chuck Schumer, but it was a fall-off-the-bike moment," making explicit comparisons to Biden's biking accident and his disastrous presidential debate performance that preceded his campaign suspension.

"And if he continues to stumble … instead of meeting this moment, there will be continued questions about his future leadership," he said.

"I think it's an uphill fight for him," Green explained.

The PCCC leader compared Schumer to Biden once more, noting that the former president also had a prime and "eventually that prime was over."

Carlson said "Schumer was an effective majority leader" for many years, "but being an opposition leader is an entirely different skill set" and could be one that the Democrat leader doesn't have. 

Some Democrat strategists speculated about potential replacements for the Senate minority leader if it comes to that, proposing Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., specifically.

"Chris Murphy has been turning a lot of heads," Green said.

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Representatives for Murphy, Schatz and Klobuchar did not provide comment in time for publication. 

Other Democrat strategists don't think Schumer should be replaced and are confident he won't be. 

Schumer "will survive this," Democrat strategist Max Burns told Fox News Digital. He credited Trump's "habit of flooding the zone" with Schumer's ability to hang on. 

Jim Kessler, former senior aide to Schumer and executive vice president for policy at Third Way, told Fox News Digital he expects him "to remain as the Democratic leader in the Senate."

"Yes, there is a vocal group of House Democrats and activists calling for him to step aside as leader," he said. But, "There is almost no one in the Senate doing so and most Democrats in Washington are simply keeping their heads down."

"I talked to one House Democrat who said he was livid for 24 hours and then thankful after he thought about it for a few days," Kessler said.

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Jim Manley, former senior communications advisor and spokesperson for former Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus, agreed that Schumer does not need to step down. 

"There is plenty of blame to go around" that isn't confined to Schumer, Manley said.

Another Democrat strategist, who opted to remain anonymous, said "we're in this position where no one has stepped up to be sort of the primary protagonist to Trump as the antagonist," pointing to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as someone who skillfully played this role in his first administration.

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The strategist further hammered Democrats for being too quick to dispose of leaders and party members who make mistakes or disagree, labeling the calls for Schumer to step down "premature."

Schumer's office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.