The Democratic internal conflict over Senate leadership has erupted.

Since Donald Trump assumed the presidency again last January, the bipartisan struggle has moved to the United States Congress. The biggest legislative challenge occurred last week when Congress was forced to approve a funding measure before Friday to avoid what is called a "government shutdown."

A government shutdown is the partial or total closure of the U.S. federal government that occurs when Congress doesn't approve a funding law before the deadline. During a shutdown, many government agencies and services cease to operate, and federal employees may be temporarily furloughed without pay.

To avoid a government shutdown in the first months of the year, the lower house, (controlled by Republicans) passed a 99-page budget package last Tuesday, which among other things increases defense spending by 6 billion dollars and cuts non-defense-related programs by 13 billion dollars. This package awaited the Senate for its sanction.

Unlike the lower house, Republicans in the Senate found it more difficult to approve the legislative package without the support of some Democratic senators.

Sixty votes are needed in the Senate to break the filibuster, which is a tactic commonly used to block or prolong debate on a bill. Today, Senate Republicans control 53 seats, but they needed eight Democratic votes to advance to the final vote.

The number was eight because there was an additional difficulty for Republicans: the Republican senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, warned that he would vote against the measure because it doesn't sufficiently reduce the deficit.

The factor that triggered great turmoil within the Democratic party originated when the senator and leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Charles Schumer of New York, announced that he would vote with Republicans to advance the resolution and avoid a government shutdown. Finally, on Friday, Schumer, along with nine other senators, cast their votes, and the government shutdown was ultimately avoided.

The Democratic senators who followed Schumer in this vote were Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), Dick Durbin (Illinois), John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire), Gary Peters (Michigan), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire). Also joining was Angus King (Maine), an independent in the Senate.

Today, the Democratic leader of the Senate, faces a corrosive internal onslaught, due to strong attacks from his party's base for his vote in favor of advancing a funding bill drafted by Republicans.

Schumer poorly defended his vote by saying that ''a government shutdown would have been worse,'' as it would have accelerated Trump's efforts to close government agencies.

"It is deeply partisan. It doesn't address too many of this country's needs. But I believe allowing Donald Trump to gain even more power through a government shutdown is a much worse option." Schumer justified himself after his vote.

Senator Charles Schumer is 74 years old, and since 1999 he has represented the state of New York. Eight years ago, he was elected the leader of the Democratic bloc in the Senate, alternating between majority and minority leader.

After last Friday's vote, the progressive wing of the party increased its frustration with the current party leadership, as they intend to be a blocking barrier to every Republican party initiative.

The most surprising attack on Schumer came from the Democratic party's bloc leader in the lower house, Hakeem Jeffries. Jeffries, a native of Brooklyn like Schumer, held a surprising press conference on Friday where he dodged various questions about whether the Democratic leader of the Senate was fit to lead.

Jeffries's snub or perhaps his nonexistent defense of his party's historic leader in the upper house sent a worrying signal to his party: in the future, these two leaders might not share the same political tune.

Besides Jeffries, one of the strongest voices to rise in criticism of Schumer was the infamous New York representative: Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, whom some see as a contender for Schumer's Senate seat when he must decide whether to run for the upper house in 2028.

Ocasio-Cortez escalated the internal tension by describing Schumer's move as a  "big slap and betrayal" to the Democratic Party.

Democratic senators, Schumer's colleagues, maintain that he will not leave his position as party leader, but they openly question his decision-making in a way they had not done during his previous eight years as leader.

The evolution of this fracture is relevant, considering that on the other side of the aisle, not long ago, Republican senators attacked the worn-out caucus leader Mitch McConnell, leading him to resign from his role as Republican leader last January.

Undoubtedly, these are turbulent times in Washington, where cracks are beginning to appear in an opposition party that today is far from having a unified stance on how to stand and act in front of the efficient Republican government, openly exposing an internal struggle for Democratic leadership in the Senate.

It is an enigma how internal positions will evolve in front of a leader like Schumer, who at this time faces the most difficult fight of his career as Democratic leader in the Senate amid strong attacks from his party's base, and a Republican party that silently, reaps a new legislative success in the early days of Donald Trump's second administration.