By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Meet the Press host Kristen Welker asked Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) on NBC today whether Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer had given him permission to peel away from the Democratic Caucus and cast his vote with Republicans to reopen the government without any guarantees about improving health care for most Americans.
“Absolutely not,” Kaine replied, then related a conversation he and Schumer had a couple of years ago on another controversial bill on which they disagreed. “I said, ‘Chuck listen my goal with you is always to inform you. But I don’t need a permission slip from you because eight and a half million Virginians gave me that permission slip in November of 2024.”
Kaine added that on reopening the government, Schumer “voted the other way. He would have preferred that I not voted the way that I did. But he knows that U.S. senators are going to do what’s in the interest of their constituents. And my 320,000 federal workers and their families are a powerful, powerful part of who I represent. And when I could get important protections for them after a year of being kicked around by Donald Trump, I said, ‘I’m ready to sign on.'”
The Virginia Democrat said, “We got a couple of other key wins for the American people that led me to switch my no vote to yes. So we got full-year funding for the SNAP program that President Trump and the Republicans have been trying to gut, robust funding to protect 45 million Americans who rely on SNAP and full-year funding for some other important priorities like the Veterans’ Administration. And then when I joined the negotiation, really just 48 hours before it came to a head, I was able to negotiate with Republican colleagues and the White House key protections for federal employees. Everybody who’s furloughed comes back with back pay. All the folks that President Trump fired since October 1 come back with back pay. And most importantly, a guarantee of no mass firings, no RIFs (Reductions in Force) going forward. So those two items together with the guarantee of a vote on health care, on a proposal that the Democrats put on the table. We didn’t have any of that on October 1. We had that by last Sunday. And that’s why I switched my no vote to yes.”
The next guest on Meet the Press was Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, who has called for Schumer to be replaced. He told Welker: “The question is what is the future of Democratic leadership – who is going to be effective? And most Democrats around the country just don’t think that person is Chuck Schumer. I mean, he doesn’t inspire confidence. He’s not bold. He’s out of touch with the grassroots. He’s someone who cheer-led us into the war in Iraq. He doesn’t have the moral clarity on Gaza. He couldn’t say Mamdani’s name. And this was the final straw where he was not strong on fighting for health care.”
Asked who should be considered to replace Schumer as Democratic leader, Khanna mentioned Senators Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz and Elizabeth Warren, respectively of Connecticut, Hawaii and Massachusetts.
On ABC’s This Week, Murphy was asked if Schumer needed to be replaced. He answered, “Senator Schumer is going to have to explain to us how we are going to run the caucus differently, how we are going to be more united.”
*
Bob Englehart’s cartoon in Sunday’s San Diego Union-Tribune featured a burial plot labeled “Jeffrey Epstein quicksand.” All that remained above ground of one victim who had been sucked into the quicksand was a long tie — presumably that of President Donald Trump.
The Epstein files came up in Kristen Welker’s Meet the Press interview with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), who has co-sponsored with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) a bill to require the Department of Justice to release its files on the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, who later committed suicide in prison. Separately, the House Oversight Committee recently released a trove of Epstein documents, including emails, that it had in its possession.
Khanna told Welker that convicted sex offender Epstein “had set up a rape island where rich and powerful men were abusing young girls with impunity. And there are thousands of victims, and rich and powerful men still have buildings named after them, scholarships named after them. This is not partisan. They all need to be held accountable. The Epstein class needs to go.”
Later in the interview, he commented: “There is a group of rich and powerful men who abused young girls. It’s the one thing this country agrees was horrible. I don’t think we’ve had a scandal like this in this country, and what we’re asking for is justice for those survivors. So, it’s not about Donald Trump I don’t know how involved Trump was. There are a lot of other people who are involved who have to be held accountable.”
Asked how many House Republicans would join Democrats in voting for the release of the Epstein files, Khanna said “I’m hoping for 40-plus.” Khanna has scheduled a press conference on Tuesday in advance of the House vote.
On ABC’s “This Week,” host Jonathan Karl questioned Congressman Massie about Trump’s directions to Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate some high profile Democrats’ associations with Epstein, specifically naming former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary and Harvard University President Larry Summers, and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman.
Massie said, “If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can’t be released so this might be a big smokescreen–these investigations, to open a bunch of them — as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files.”
Asked what Trump may be afraid of, Massie responded, “I’ve never said that these files would implicate Donald Trump and I really don’t think they will. I think he is trying to protect a bunch of rich and powerful friends– billionaires, donors, to his campaign, friends in his social circle and that is my operating theory on why he is trying so hard to keep these files closed.”
*
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said in a video that Sunday’s stepped-up activity by Customs and Border Patrol agents against immigrants in Charlotte, his state’s largest city, “is not making us safer, it’s stoking fear and dividing our community … We’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color, racially profiling, and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks.” He advised citizens of the Tar Heel State: “North Carolina, this is a stressful moment, but please stay peaceful, and if you see something wrong, record it and report it to local law enforcement. That’s what we can do for our neighbors to keep each other safe. That’s the North Carolina way.”
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.