Several liberal groups, including unions, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and MoveOn, told Axios they have met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his team weekly over the past two months. All have emphasized that a repeat of Schumer’s March concession would be unacceptable.

The progressive Democratic groups involved have welcomed the change in dynamics. “There has been more proactive communication from leadership to me; I would just call it the outside ecosystem,” MoveOn chief communications officer Joel Payne told Axios.

The battle lines that the grassroots of the party are drawing for the grasstops leadership are clear: “Hey, you’ve got to be willing to fight.”

Others took on a much different tone, sounding more threatening. One source familiar with the conversations told Axios that some groups have been using planned No Kings protests next month to their advantage. “You can either be a part of this movement or be irrelevant to it,” the source said they told Schumer’s team.

The liberal group Progress Action Fund told Axios it is paying six figures for an ad buy pushing Schumer to stand his ground in the government funding battle.

Schumer is being set up for a daunting task, as some in his caucus are reportedly already getting cold feet. The White House’s threats to lay off thousands of federal workers in retaliation for a government shutdown are leading some Democrats to consider breaking ranks, said Democratic sources familiar with the matter, according to
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/3827347/schumer-coordinating-shutdown-strategy-with-liberal-groups-after-caving/