MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow defended Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a day after members of Schumer’s caucus defected to help Republicans.

Eight Senate Democrats crossed the aisle to vote to advance a Republican bill to fund and reopen the federal government, which shut down on Oct. 1. Republicans control the chamber 53-47, but 60 votes are needed to overcome a procedural hurdle. The eight Democrats gave the bill the 60 votes it needed, as one Republican voted against the legislation.

Senate Democrats had been withholding their support for the legislation and demanded that Republicans agree to extend Covid-era healthcare premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. About 24 million Americans receive healthcare under the act, and the vast majority, on average, will see their premium costs double if the subsidies are not extended by Dec. 31. However, Democrats got no such concession in exchange for the eight members of the caucus who voted with Republicans.

Schumer did not vote with the GOP, but many rank-and-file liberals and some Democratic lawmakers were outraged that he was either unable or unwilling to prevent the mutiny. Others have suggested he even quietly orchestrated it. The Democratic defections come eight months after Schumer voted to advance a Republican spending bill in March without extracting any concessions in a move that also angered the Democratic base.

During Monday’s handoff between Maddow and O’Donnell on MSNBC, O’Donnell referenced his colleague’s interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) the previous hour. Sanders called the Democratic leadership “out of touch.”

The senators’ comments prompted O’Donnell to defend the minority leader, which led to this exchange with Maddow:

O’DONNELL: My favorite moment in the Bernie Sanders interview was when the discussion of replacing Chuck Schumer came up, and Senator Sanders basically said, “Who would want that job?” And that’s the truth of it. There is no more wasted breath at this particular moment in our governing than the question of Chuck Schumer’s future. He has the vote of every Democratic member of the Senate. He will continue to have that. There’s not a single Democratic member who’s raised his or her hand who said, “I don’t want him to be leader and I want to be leader.” And those two things have to happen.

Someone has to say, “It’s me.” And the people who are saying, “Oh, let’s get rid of Chuck Schumer,” I’m waiting for the name. They have yet to say, well, who’s gonna do it? Who do you have? Who have you convinced? And who’s gonna do it better than Chuck Schumer?

MADDOW: And Senator Sanders, what his answer to me on that question was, “Oh, sure, we should replace everybody in this, the establishment, but we shouldn’t be primarying somebody on the basis of wthe fact that their name is Chuck Schumer. We should be primarying everybody who doesn’t support Medicare for all.” Or the other things that he supports. So, yeah, I mean, he’s– that was his opportunity to stand up and say, “I’ll do it.” But but you’re right. There’s nobody who is stepping up to take that job right now.

O’DONNELL: Yeah, this is when there’s, I guess I have a sense that people think that this work is easy, that Chuck Schumer’s job is easy. “There’s a simple yes or no. It’s black and white. This is how you do it.” They think the job of senator is easy. They think it’s easy being the senators from Nevada and watching the air traffic system collapse with Las Vegas completely dependent on the air traffic system. “It’s just easy for them. They could just live with that for as long as they have to live with that.” Turns out it’s not. It’s not easy for any of them.

Some political analysts believe Schumer is not long for his leadership post.

“I think he’s been in trouble,” said former Obama administration official David Axelrod on Monday. “I think he is in bigger trouble now. I honestly, I think Senator Schumer’s been there since 1982. My guess is that he won’t be leader of the party in 2027 after this election unless something really surprising happens.”