Schumer says the shutdown was 'meticulously' planned by the tea party. Schumer: Tea party planned shutdown

If anyone is surprised about the government shutdown, Sen. Chuck Schumer said the tea party had it planned “almost a year and a half.”

“The tea party was planning almost a year and a half before it happened. The issue of Obamacare is almost incidental. The real issue is they have almost a principle that they wanted to shut down the government because they hate it so, and that’s astounding,” Schumer said on CNN’s “New Day.”


Schumer went further to say it was “meticulously” planned and that Speaker John Boehner has conceded to go along with it.

“So anyone who thinks this is an accident that, ‘Oh, the president is equally to blame,’ oh no, the tea party planned this and very, very, very meticulously and so far successfully executed it, assuming Speaker Boehner would go along with them, which unfortunately was a correct assumption,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

( POLITICO's full government shutdown coverage)

He continued to hit Boehner and Republican House leadership, for not distancing themselves from the demands of the tea party faction within the GOP.

“The problem here is Speaker Boehner so far has been unwilling to break with the tea party, but let me make a prediction when we get close to the debt ceiling he will have to break with the tea party,” Schumer said.

Schumer also said that Republicans in the Senate also faced pressure from the tea party faction, but the had the “courage” to stand against them and said he and hopes Boehner will eventually do the same.

“I like to compare him to the Republican leadership in the Senate, many of whom have tea party opponents but they figured out a way to let our bill go forth. They didn’t vote for Obamacare, they’re against it, but they at least said, ‘We’re not going to shut down the government to get our way.’ And 25 of the 44 Republicans when the bill came to the floor, voted for a path to open the government. That showed some courage. Where is Speaker Boehner’s? I hope he will summon the same,” Schumer said.

( PHOTOS: 17 times the government has shut down)

Rep. Louise Slaughter continued Schumer’s attack and citing yesterday’s New York Times story that attributed the shutdown to the long-term planning by conservatives.

“One of the most well-researched pieces that I’ve seen was yesterday in The New York Times, and this was planned since [2010] and the plotters are David Koch, former Attorney General Ed Meese and a man from the Heritage Foundation. They don’t care if the government is shut down,” Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said on “CNN Newsroom.”

Also appearing to the program, Rep. Tom Cole expressed skepticism that there was any “conspiracy” when asked about the story.

“No, I don’t think so. First of all, I don’t there’s some deep, dark plot here,” Cole (R-Okla.) said.