Schumer is an institutionalst at his core, and despite that the foxes are ravaging the chickens in the henhouse, he still believes in Institution writ large. That's what he's trying to protect with his caution. He appears to be trying to shape the direction of Democrats' response, albeit in the most feeble way possible, and it's getting away from him, so he's reteating into institutionalism. He is too calcified to realize we are way, way beyond the point of the institution healing its own wounds.