Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer‘s book tour was supposed to be a showcase of party leadership. Instead, it was canceled over “security concerns” as left-wing protesters organized demonstrations at every planned stop.

Schumer’s decision to back a Republican-led government funding bill last week has become a catalyst for a broader uprising among Democratic voters, many of whom are swarming town halls with lawmakers to demand answers: where’s the fighting spirit from the party that campaigned on the message that Donald Trump was nothing short of a threat to democracy?

The turmoil at recent town halls across the country marks a sharp contrast to the unity Democrats had hoped to project during the current congressional recess, as they sought to use meetings with angry constituents as a way to sharpen their line of attack against Trump and Elon Musk, whom some polls show has now overtaken the president as the bête noire for liberals.

But Schumer’s support for the funding bill—which he defended as a necessary move to prevent a more damaging government shutdown—has sparked a revolt among those voters who see his accommodation as something akin to complicity.

“He didn’t have the fight that we really, as Democrats, wanted and needed him to have as a leader,” Democratic strategist Aisha Mills told Politico. “It felt like a bit of a cop-out.”

At town halls over the last week, from Arizona to Massachusetts, constituents have confronted Democratic lawmakers with anger, skepticism and demands for accountability. What began as an opportunity for Democrats to capitalize on the tumultuous early days of the new Republican administration—and unite their ranks in opposition—has morphed into a reckoning over their own leadership’s perceived passivity in confronting President Trump’s agenda.

In a CBS interview, Schumer defended his actions amid calls for a primary challenge to the long-serving senator, saying: “When we don’t have a president, we have a lot of leaders. But as far as the Senate caucus… I should be the leader.” Still, he has canceled appearances in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York as part of his book tour, opting for more controlled TV environments like “The View” and MSNBC instead of face-to-face interactions with an increasingly hostile base.

Record-Low Approval for Dems

The outcry comes as confidence in the Democratic Party hits historic lows. A CNN poll placed the party’s favorability at 29 percent—the lowest level recorded since the network began polling the issue in 1992. NBC News found it even lower, at 27 percent. Both results reflect growing disenchantment among Democratic voters, many of whom feel adrift following November’s humbling defeat and believe the party has failed to effectively oppose Trump and his billionaire backer, Elon Musk.

At a packed town hall in Golden, Colorado, Sen. Michael Bennet struggled to address a crowd that erupted into open frustration. “None of this feels like you’re fighting for us,” one attendee shouted, prompting a full minute of booing before Bennet could respond. Asked if Schumer should stay in power, Bennet replied, “It’s important for people to know when it’s time to go.”

In Maryland, Rep. Glenn Ivey faced similar fury. “We need you to be a little bit less polite, a little bit more ‘hell no,'” one attendee urged him at a town hall in Suitland. Ivey drew loud applause when he became the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call for Schumer to step down. “I think it may be time for the Senate Democrats to pick new leadership,” he said.

In deep-blue Massachusetts, the unrest was evident. Sen. Elizabeth Warren told a crowd of 700 at UMass Lowell that she believed Schumer “was wrong” to support the GOP spending bill. “This is the all-the-marbles fight. We have got to beat these billionaires back,” she said, adding that she had voted against the bill and tried to “twist arms” within the Democratic caucus.

Days earlier, nearly 600 people packed into a high school auditorium in Boxford to press Rep. Seth Moulton on Democratic strategy. “The Congress has seemed to go dark. It seemed to go quiet,” said Margaret O’Malley, a retired nurse from Gloucester. “It could be too late by next year,” she added to loud cheers.

‘It’s Time to Ditch the Party’

For some on the left, dissatisfaction with Democratic leadership has reignited a longstanding debate about the party’s future. In a Thursday interview with The New York Times, Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested that progressives consider running as independents rather than as Democrats.

“If there’s any hope for the Democratic Party, it is that they’re going to have to reach out—open the doors and let working-class people in,” Sanders said. “If not, people will be running as independents, I think, all over this country.”

Sanders made the remarks on the eve of his “Stopping Oligarchy” tour, a five-city rally alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aimed at mobilizing resistance to Trump, Musk, and what they describe as a billionaire-led assault on American government. The tour has already drawn thousands and helped galvanize progressive organizing, echoing the early days of the Tea Party on the right.

“An angry base is a motivated base,” MSNBC columnist Paul Waldman wrote in an opinion piece on Friday, arguing that this disarray within the Democratic Party could actually signal a coming revival and comparing the moment to the early days of the Tea Party uprising.

The parallels are hard to ignore. But some longtime observers are urging Democrats to tread carefully. “The Tea Party became a slave to its own rage,” conservative Never Trump columnist David French warned in the Times. French, who represented Tea Party groups in court during the Obama era, said the movement’s anger ultimately overshadowed its original ideals. “Do Democrats think embracing Tea Party rage is the path back to power?” he asked.

Still, the frustration among Democrats isn’t just about ideology—it’s about urgency. “I would’ve liked to hear the plan,” Juliana Lufkin, a voter in Maryland who attended a town hall hosted by Reps. Jamie Raskin and April McClain Delaney, told NBC. “This is not the leadership that we all hope for.”

Sen. Mark Kelly, speaking in Arizona, offered a more direct call to action: “You show up in front of their office, tell them how pissed off you are and how bad this is for our country,” he said.

For many in his party, that may be the only acceptable strategy left.