WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is postponing several scheduled events this week to promote his new book, “ Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” after some liberal groups had planned to stage protests.
The cancellations of events in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other cities came amid widespread criticism from the party’s liberal base over Schumer’s vote to move forward with Republican spending legislation last week. Risa Heller, a representative for Schumer’s book, said the tour would be rescheduled “due to security concerns.”
Schumer said the spending bill was “terrible” but that a shutdown would have been far worse, and difficult to end, as President Donald Trump has already slashed jobs and funding for agencies across the government. A shutdown would have given Trump even more power to make cuts, Schumer said, “and so many programs would be lost.”
House Democrats strongly disagreed with Schumer’s decision and criticized him directly: “We will not be complicit,” Democratic leaders said in a joint statement.
The public rift among Democrats, and the onslaught of criticism toward Schumer, came after years of relative unity during Trump’s first term and during President Joe Biden's time in the White House. It's a reflection of how Democrats have become increasingly frustrated with their inability to stop Trump’s Cabinet confirmations and mass firings of federal workers.
At a news conference on Friday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries repeatedly refused to say whether he has confidence in Schumer — a rare break for the two longtime New York colleagues.
“We do not want to shut down the government. But we are not afraid of a government funding showdown,” Jeffries said.
Schumer and Jeffries met in Brooklyn on Sunday, according to two people familiar with the meeting. But the discontent with Schumer went far beyond House leadership, and some of the nation’s most influential progressive groups warned of serious political consequences.
Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, wrote on social media last week that Democratic activists planned to express their anger at town halls or other public events. MoveOn, another progressive group that claims nearly 10 million members nationwide, predicted that its activists would also demand answers from Democratic officials.
“Clearing the way for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is unacceptable. It’s past time for Democrats to fight and stop acting like it’s business as usual,” said Joel Payne, a spokesperson for MoveOn.
In Baltimore on Monday evening, some protesters still gathered outside the Enoch Pratt Free Library where Schumer was scheduled to speak. While the group was more focused on Schumer's strong support for Israel, some speakers criticized his decision to vote to move forward with the spending bill. Homemade signs read “Schumer is a coward” and “Chuck sold us out.”
One organizer celebrated that they had “pushed Chuck Schumer out of Baltimore,” to cheers.
“If Sen. Schumer wants to come back, we’ll be even more prepared,” said Nikki Morse, a spokesperson with the Baltimore chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.
Associated Press writer Lea Skene in Baltimore contributed to this report.
A sign announcing that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's scheduled book tour event was postponed is seen in a window of the Central Library branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Central Library branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's scheduled book tour event was postponed, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer gives a television interview, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Central Library branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's scheduled book tour event was postponed, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched new strikes against Hamas and promised ‘increasing military force’ after talks on on further hostage releases stalled.
Early Friday morning, Israel’s Prime Minister’s office said it instructed the army to strike Hamas across Gaza.
The statement said it was because of Hamas’ repeated refusals to release its hostages and its rejection of all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators.
The strikes come after nearly two months of a ceasefire to pause the 17-month long war where dozens of hostages were released for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and southern Syria on Monday, killing at least 10 people, including a child, according to local authorities. The Israeli military said it was targeting militants plotting attacks.
The airstrikes were the latest in what have been frequent and often deadly attacks by Israeli forces during the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. Israel has blocked all food, medicine, fuel and other supplies from entering Gaza the past two weeks, demanding Hamas accept changes in the two sides’ ceasefire deal.
In Syria, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad in December. Israel says it is a preemptive security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel.
The strikes hit a residential area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, killing three people and wounding 19 others, including four children, a woman and three civil defense volunteers, the Syrian civil defense agency said. It said two ambulances were damaged. Other strikes hit military positions near the city.
The Israeli military said it was targeting military command centers and sites in southern Syria that contained weapons and vehicles belonging to Assad’s forces. It said the materials’ presence posed a threat to Israel.
In central Gaza, two strikes hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew, according to officials at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said it struck militants planting explosives.
An earlier strike killed three men in Bureij. The Israeli military said the men were trying to plant an explosive device in the ground near Israeli troops. Gaza’s Hamas-led government said the men were collecting firewood.
In Lebanon, Israel said it struck two members of the Hezbollah militant group in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, who it said were “observation operatives.” Lebanon’s state news agency reported two people killed in the strike and two wounded.
The military later said it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, without specifying where. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in late November ending the 14-month war between the two sides, and each side has repeatedly accused the other of violating the deal.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas.
Still, the deal has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. The ceasefire’s first phase saw an exchange of some hostages held by Hamas in return for the freeing of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.
Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.
AP reporter Ghaith Alsayed in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.
Palestinians Ali Marouf cook on fire on the roof of his destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of Palestinian Marouf family cook outside their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of Palestinian Marouf family cook outside their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of Palestinian Marouf family cook outside their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians Ali Marouf and his mother Aisha cook on fire on the roof of their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
