Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer responded over the weekend to increasing calls from within his Democratic Party for him to step down from his role after agreeing to back a Republican-led spending bill earlier this month to keep the government open and funded for the remainder of the fiscal year.

In response to growing calls for him to relinquish his leadership role, the veteran New York senator and longtime Democratic leader stated firmly, “I’m not stepping down.”

The remarks come after several House Democrats publicly suggested that it may be time for Schumer to pass the torch. In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Schumer acknowledged the frustration among fellow Democrats over his recent vote to advance a Republican-backed spending bill.

However, he argued that forcing a federal government shutdown wasn’t a battle Democrats should choose to fight, saying that wasn’t the hill his party should choose to die on.

He warned that a shutdown would open the door for President Trump and adviser Elon Musk to “eviscerate the federal government.” “It would be devastating,” Schumer said. “What we got, at the end of the day, is avoiding the horror of a shutdown,” he said.

Schumer added that the Democratic caucus is united against Trump and will make him “the quickest lame duck in modern history by showing how bad his policies are.”

He then predicted: “I believe by 2026 the Republicans in the House and Senate will feel like they are rats on a sinking ship because we have so gone after Trump and all the horrible things he is doing.”

Schumer has faced mounting criticism for backing the Republican-led funding bill. Some Democratic lawmakers and activists viewed the vote as a missed opportunity to slow down the fast-paced Trump administration, especially after Democrats lost control of both the House and Senate.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, took a veiled swipe at Schumer, saying she doesn’t “give away anything for nothing.”