So here's a little intra-party drama for you: Rep. Ro Khanna (ROKH) (D-Calif.) decided to take to social media late Wednesday and tell Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (SCHU) (D-N.Y.) that he should, well, get out of the way. The reason? Schumer's vote on a proposed weapons sale to Israel.
Khanna didn't mince words. He said Schumer was "out of touch" with the Democratic base and the nation as a whole, and flat-out called for him to "step aside." That's not the kind of thing you usually say about your own party's leader in the Senate, but hey, politics is getting interesting.
This wasn't just Khanna venting into the void. He was responding to a post by Adam Carlson that listed Schumer among seven Senate Democrats who voted against blocking a proposed weapons sale to Israel. The others on that list: Richard Blumenthal (BLUM) (D-CT), Chris Coons (COON) (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (MAST) (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (ROSE) (D-NV), Kirsten Gillibrand (GILL) (D-NY), and John Fetterman (FETT) (D-PA).
On the other side of the vote was Sen. Elissa Slotkin (SLOT) (D-Mich.), who supported blocking certain offensive weapons sales to Israel. She made a point of saying she still backs defensive aid like the Iron Dome system and wants to review other arms on a case-by-case basis. Slotkin emphasized that supporting Israel's security is different from approving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies or President Donald Trump's decisions on Iran. It's a nuanced position in a debate that doesn't always have a lot of nuance.
Bernie Sanders Vote Fails, Support Rises
All this criticism comes after a failed effort led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (SAND) (I-VT) on Wednesday to block U.S. weapons sales to Israel. This was Sanders' fourth try to cut off military aid for Israel in the Senate, and while it didn't pass, the numbers are telling.
Forty senators supported a resolution to block a $295 million bulldozer sale, and 36 backed another measure to stop a $151.8 million sale of 12,000 bombs to Israel. What's really interesting is how support has grown: among caucus members, it rose from 15 to 27 between last April and July. That's a significant shift in a relatively short time.
Sanders framed the vote as a chance for Congress to push back against AIPAC's heavy political spending ahead of upcoming elections. He argued that public support for Israel has sharply declined because of what he called the Netanyahu government's "horrific and illegal" actions, pointing to a Pew survey that shows high negative views among both Democrats and Republicans.
Meanwhile, this isn't the first time Khanna has called out Schumer. Back in November, he backed more progressive Democrats and called for new leadership. While he praised Schumer's past performance under former President Joe Biden on NBC's "Meet the Press," Khanna said he no longer inspires confidence among voters. So this latest outburst isn't a one-off; it's part of a growing tension within the party over direction and leadership.
In the end, it's a story about money, politics, and foreign policy all colliding. With elections looming and party lines blurring, these votes are becoming more than just procedural—they're statements of principle that are drawing sharp rebukes from within. And when a congressman tells the Senate minority leader to step aside, you know things are getting real.
