Chuck Schumer commits 'extreme' phone gaffe

Sen. Charles Schumer might want to take attendance when he uses the phone from now on.
Unaware reporters were already listening in on a conference call, Schumer caught some heat Tuesday for instructing fellow Democrats to label Republicans “extreme” regarding their proposed budget cuts.

“I always use the word extreme,” Schumer said. “That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week.”

But Schumer wasn’t embarrassed by the flub.

“There’s nothing wrong with reporters overhearing him calling the House Republicans’ budget extreme because that’s what it is,” his spokesman said in a statement. “He had just given a speech on the Senate floor saying the same thing.”