Poll: Schumer is the most unpopular major leader on Capitol Hill

Longtime Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is the most unpopular top lawmaker on Capitol Hill, a new poll shows, adding fuel to the rumors that another rising liberal star is set to replace him. Schumer has represented New York in the Senate since 1999, but earlier this year got in hot water with his party after agreeing to help Republicans fund the government in a high-profile battle.

Democrats, including fellow New Yorker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , fumed that Schumer worked with Republicans to keep the government’s lights on in March. The deal provided funding that ran through September 30. However, the 74-year-old Democrat has changed his tune and refused to rally his party behind GOP funding proposals this week – a gambit that has led to the ongoing government shutdown.

It seems unlikely that his reversal will help his popularity. Schumer is the most unpopular major leader on Capitol Hill, new polling shows. According to a new survey from Pew Research of nearly 3,500 U.S. adults, 50 percent of respondents hold an unfavorable view of the senior New York Democrat, with just 21 percent expressing a favorable view.

Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson holds a 38 percent favorable rating, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune is at 26 percent and Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries clocks in at 30 percent. Among respondents who identified as Democrats, Schumer’s prognosis is especially terrible.

The poll found that Schumer holds a 39 percent unfavorable rating among adults who identify as Democrats or who lean Democratic. That spells trouble for Schumer as he prepares for yet another run for office next year. AOC, one of the most popular Democrats in the country, has flirted with a Senate run in 2028.

Advisers close to the 35-year-old progressive star have said that the congresswoman is keeping her options open, both for a Senate bid and a potential run for the White House in 2028. Should she decide to enter the Senate race, her potential primary against Schumer would set up a generational showdown between a longtime establishment liberal and a rising progressive star.

And suppose the current New York City mayoral race is any indicator, as Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani runs away in poll after poll , the Empire State may be interested in a new, more liberal approach to governing. The Trump administration also sees the loyalty to Schumer falling apart.

When fielding questions from the press during a briefing on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance highlighted how Schumer is willing to shut down the government and not negotiate with Republican lawmakers because the Democrat needs to look tough lest he lose an election to AOC.

‘The reality here, and let’s be honest about the politics, is that Chuck Schumer is terrified he’s going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,’ Vance said. ‘The reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his own party because he’s terrified of a primary challenge.’

However, AOC has fought back against that characterization. ‘They’re saying this stuff about me in the press, and the fact of the matter is, I can tell you, in the seven years that I’ve been here, they [Republican leaders] have never given me a single phone call, because they know what the truth is,’ she said this week.

‘They know that the people that they need to be negotiating with, and who they are negotiating with, are Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.’ Schumer’s office did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.