Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) supported the leadership of Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) on Sunday, but said the Caucus “has to change tactics” to be effective.
“I still support Senator Schumer as a leader,” Murphy told NBC's Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”
“But I think the only way we can be effective as a caucus is for us to change our tactics,” he added. “And we need to have a conversation within the caucus to make sure we're going to do that.”
On Friday, a small Senate Democrat group voted to move forward with a Republican-raised fundraising bill despite intense opposition from many of the parties. The group included Schumer, who was hit by prominent progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), after saying he would vote for advancing the bill.
Murphy also said Americans want Democrats to “save our democracy” to “take risks now” after helping a group of upper-room Democrats avoid government shutdowns by voting to advance the funding bill.
“I fully understand my colleagues who don't want to push us to shut down, but I think the Americans actually understood that the Republicans had an obligation to negotiate with Democrats,” Murphy said.
“This is the first spending bill for the whole year since taking office in Congress written only by the Republican Party. So, yes, it would have been a risk. I understand the decisions that many of my Democrat colleagues have made, but I think Americans want us to take risks now to save our democracy,” the Connecticut Democrat added.
Rep. Chris Delfio (D-PA.) also told News Nation Sunday that he believes Democrats want to stand in their position when it's not just good politics but good policies for the country.
“And again, I'm someone who believes to find as many common ground as possible, but when it came time to fight for your people, you were able to stand in your position,” he added.
Hill reached into Schumer's office for comment.
