Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he will fight President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee “with everything I’ve got,” but centrist Democrats are now saying that the Senate minority leader cannot tell them what to do or how to vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.
While Schumer (D., N.Y.) is facing pressure from the left to keep all 49 Senate Democrats in tow to kill Kavanaugh’s nomination, he has several members from red and purple states facing uphill reelection battles this year who do not seem eager just to fall in line, Politico reported Friday.
“I’ll be 71 years old in August, you’re going to whip me? Kiss my you know what,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) told Politico when asked if Schumer can influence his vote.
Manchin is not the only Democratic senator to hold that view. Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) also pushed back against Schumer’s efforts to pressure them, saying they will not be influenced by Schumer or pressured to vote in favor of his position.
Read more at the Washington Free Beacon.
