General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Kirsten Gillibrand, two words as to why you went nowhere [View all]delisen
(6,042 posts)of the entire democratic caucus.He has the power to demand and command members of the Senate who are Democrats and who caucus with democrats such as Bernie Sanders. He has the power to punish or reward and has tools at his disposal.
He has all the power to keep members in line that Nancy Pelosi has in the House. According to Al Franken it was Schumer who force his resignation, not Gillibrand, and he did it by threatening to turn the entire caucus against Franken.
Schumer plays hardball -if he did not he would have survived as the Senate Minority Leader.
Apparently he wanted Franken's resignation and he got it. He has certainly never apologized, nor has he admitted his role. However I believe Franken's account of what Schumer did.
I did not see Gillibrand as being at all happy in making her public statement.
Here is the list of all the Democratic caucus members who had called, by December 6,2017, for Franken's resignation (and Schumer was going to round up more):
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/full-list-senators-call-for-al-franken-to-resign-282175