For the last week, we’ve been talking about the agony of the Democrats, who don’t seem to know who they are. Voters do, and they don’t like what they see, giving the Donkey Party a laughable and record-low 29% approval rating. Democrats were at it again over the weekend, fighting amongst themselves as if they were, well, Republicans.

Normally, you see, Democrats march in lockstep. They take orders from the top, issue the same talking points — often so literally it becomes a story in and of itself — and don’t air their disagreements publicly. After losing (again) to the Bad Orange Man, however, they’ve grown increasingly restive and are jockeying for advantage in a leaderless party.

Ten days ago, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lost his game of chicken over the federal budget, voting to advance the Republicans’ continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown. That infuriated most other Democrats, who love government so much that it causes them great mental anguish to see Republicans running it, and they would rather shut it down to spite the GOP.

While Schumer expected “a lot of controversy” over his continuing resolution vote, he argued that Democrats’ Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is exactly why he was right. The CR was “certainly bad,” he said, but shutting down “would be 15 or 20 times worse” because the Trump administration would have the “sole power to determine what is ‘essential.’” He added, “They would eviscerate the federal government.”

Sounds great to me!

Nevertheless, Nancy Pelosi effectively gave permission for other Democrats to speak up. Just a few days after the Ides of March — famous for Julius Caesar’s assassination — Pelosi shivved Schumer, saying, “I myself don’t give away anything for nothing. I think that’s what happened the other day.”

Et tu, Nancy? he must be asking. But what did he expect? She shivved Joe Biden last July, ending his candidacy and his presidency.

Facing calls to step aside, the 74-year-old Schumer — a spring chicken compared to Pelosi and Biden — rejected the notion, insisting, “Look, I’m not stepping down.”

Then, to show his true blue colors, Schumer laid out the Democrats’ plan: “Our caucus is united in fighting Donald Trump every step of the way. Our goal, our plan, which we’re united on, is to make Donald Trump the quickest lame duck in modern history.”

TDS for the win?

Schumer hasn’t convinced the naysayers, of course. In fact, there are growing rumblings of a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The now-35-year-old AOC was first elected to represent the Bronx in Congress in 2018 and quickly became a vocal member of “The Squad,” a handful of radical leftists driving the Democrat Party leftward. She implied on X that Schumer and other Democrats who helped the GOP pass the CR created “a wide sense of betrayal” among the rank and file.

“The American people are fed up with the old guard,” added Representative Ro Khanna of California. “There needs to be a renewal.” If AOC decided to run against Schumer, Khanna says “there would be a lot of support for her.”

Would that support include Bernie Sanders, with whom AOC held a rally recently? He wouldn’t answer that question in an interview with ABC News’s Jonathan Karl. After Sanders called her “extraordinary” and admitted that he’s “so impressed by her work in Congress,” Karl asked if he’d advocate a primary challenge. Sanders huffed about “a whole lot of people in Congress…” before getting up and starting to walk out, muttering about “nonsense.” Karl got him to come back and finish the interview, but it was an amusing refusal to address the issue nonetheless.

Sen Bernie Sanders Storms Off When Asked About AOC’s Senate Future

“No, you want to do nonsense. Do nonsense….I don’t want to talk about inside the beltway stuff.”https://t.co/GZxktxEX9w pic.twitter.com/80r0dLgmgh

— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) March 23, 2025

In any case, there may be as much a groundswell as a rebellion in the ranks. According to a CNN poll, Ocasio-Cortez best represents Democrats’ “core values” — more so than Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton.

Back to Schumer, according to Democrat Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, “I think that it is a little bit reminiscent of what we saw happen when Joe Biden was taken down.”

Funny she should mention Biden because, amidst all this Democrat infighting, NBC News has a new scoop: “The Bidens want back in.” That’s right. While Joe would probably rather relax in that beach chair in Delaware, Jill isn’t done with him yet. NBC says that “a person close to her” says “she’s prepared to help [Democrats] in any way she can.” Read: She aims to reassert power and influence behind the scenes.

I suspect the recent hagiographies of Jimmy Carter have the Bidens thinking about a post-presidency reputation rehabilitation. The difference is that Carter was age 56 and wasn’t non compos mentis when he left office.

Furthermore, what does it say about the state of the Democrat Party that NBC News is even running interference for the Bidens?

Follow Nate Jackson on X/Twitter.