Of the 10 Senate Democrats who voted to advance the GOP-drafted government funding bill last week, one name stands out: Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).
Schatz was agonizing over his vote more than most Democrats, per our conversations with his colleagues. It’s not difficult to see why.
That vote, which has prompted a ton of backlash from activists and the party base, was one of the clearest signs yet that Schatz is angling for a prominent leadership role in the Senate Democratic Caucus.
It’s an open secret in the Senate that Schatz, 52, has leadership ambitions. If Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin doesn’t seek reelection in 2026, Schatz would be a top contender for the job.
Yet being in leadership means taking difficult and sometimes unpopular votes, so this situation in particular was an opportunity for Schatz to show he’s willing to do that — and take the arrows that come with it.
“I know that this was a really hard choice for him,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who’s close with Schatz. “When you’re in leadership, your job is to think not only about your own political future but about the good of the whole…This is something Brian can see.”
Schatz declined to be interviewed for this story. In a Friday statement explaining his vote, Schatz alluded to the fact that Hawaii has a high percentage of federal workers, nearly all of whom would be furloughed in a shutdown.
On the other hand, Schatz is a staunch progressive who isn’t known to back away from a fight. He was sympathetic to the arguments being made by those who wanted to see Democrats use their leverage even if it meant forcing a shutdown. Schatz said it was “a difficult and close call” for him. After the vote, progressive social media accounts expressed shock and dismay, assuming Schatz would be on their side.
But Schatz’s vote was more a message to his colleagues than it was to the party base, leaving some to believe it was self-serving despite the skewering he’s received from liberals.
“Brian knew there were many in the caucus who wanted to vote for this terrible bill simply to avoid shutting down the government, but didn’t want to deal with the inevitable reaction we got from the left,” said a Democratic senator who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “He was speaking for them. And I think they appreciated that. But I have little doubt there was some political calculation of his own built into this.”
There’s also a sense that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who’s taken the brunt of the criticism for the decision to allow the GOP funding bill to pass, put Schatz in even more of a bind. By threatening to filibuster the GOP bill and then saying just 24 hours later he’ll help pass it in order to avert a shutdown, Schumer ensured that the backlash would be even more intense, according to one Democratic senator.
“The leader also put [Schatz] in a very difficult position,” said this Senate Democrat. “The sense within the caucus was…that we never really had a plan for dealing with this, never really had a strategy emerging from this, an understanding we were never going to be [all] on one side or another.”
Schatz ended his Friday statement with this line:
“We’re in a fight for democracy itself. We can’t let disagreements about strategy and tactics divide us. We need to focus our energy on the real villain here: Donald Trump.”
Knowing Brian Schatz: The Hawaii Democrat, a former lieutenant governor, was appointed to the Senate in 2012 following the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), a giant in Aloha State politics and the Senate. Schatz has won all of his elections since with at least 70% of the vote. That’s an important consideration for anyone who wants to be in party leadership.
Just 40 years old when he was sworn in, Schatz was the chamber’s youngest senator for about a week until Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), 10 months his junior, was sworn in. Murphy is also ambitious, although he’s being talked about more as a potential presidential candidate than a member of Senate leadership. Murphy voted against the funding bill.
During an appearance on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday, Schumer named both Murphy and Schatz as “great spokespeople” for the caucus.
Schatz has been the chief deputy whip since 2017 and has taken an active role in helping wrangle votes. He’s also a Democratic messaging guru and a frequent BlueSky and X user.
On the fundraising front, Schatz has used his X account in particular to raise gobs of cash for Democratic Senate candidates and incumbents. He knows how to use these platforms effectively, unlike a lot of senators.
Democrats also say Schatz has close relationships with all of the different factions of the caucus. This was particularly evident during the negotiations surrounding the Inflation Reduction Act, when Schatz helped bridge some of then-Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) concerns. Schatz is also a frequent go-between with GOP leadership.
