Chuck Schumer Holds The Line

Chuck Schumer’s job as Senate majority leader is harder than Mitch McConnell’s ever was. He leads a smaller majority than the Kentucky Republican, and one with wildly different ideologies — from Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

As Friday’s meltdown in the Senate illustrated, Schumer has zero margin for error. A single defection in his caucus can hobble Democratic priorities in the evenly divided 50-50 Senate, especially when he’s trying to muscle through bills on a party-line vote.

After a grueling 24-hour session on the Senate floor with only three 20-minute naps in between, the New York Democrat was able to hold his party together and pass a massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill on Saturday that is chock-full of much-needed support for Americans struggling through the pandemic.

The lesson for Democrats going forward is clear, Schumer told HuffPost in an interview.

“If we [don’t] stay united, if [one] person says, ‘I’m only going to vote for it if it has this’ … we lose,” Schumer said Saturday.

“But at the same time, we cannot be timid,” he said. “You know, I helped push [President Joe] Biden to have a bigger stimulus package.”

Schumer has suffered a few setbacks in his first month and a half on the job. The White House was forced to withdraw its nominee for a key cabinet agency earlier this month due to tepid support in the Senate, including among Democrats. The failed confirmation was Biden’s ― and Schumer’s ― first defeat since taking power earlier this year.

Friday’s chaos in the Senate, meanwhile, threatened to turn into an even bigger embarrassment. After voting began on amendments to the $1.9 trillion bill, it quickly became apparent that Democrats weren’t all aligned on the issue of extending enhanced unemployment benefits, which are due to expire March 14.

Manchin was considering voting for a Republican amendment that would have ended the benefits in July, far sooner than Democrats had initially proposed. Had he done so, House Democrats (whom party leaders hope will quickly pass the bill next week) may have objected, putting the entire package in jeopardy.

“We told him if Portman’s bill passed, it would be dead,” Schumer said. “It took him about three or four hours to realize that and when he did, he came back and said ‘OK, let’s work this out.’”

In the end, after nine hours of closed-door negotiations and the longest open Senate vote in modern history, Democrats were able to get Manchin back on board. The bill will provide a $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit through Sept. 6 and forgive taxes on up to $10,200 in 2020 unemployment income for households that made less than $150,000.

Despite his last-minute demands scaling back some provisions of the bill, including the income threshold for the next round of stimulus checks, Democrats convincing Manchin to vote for $1.9 trillion in deficit spending is a huge deal. The West Virginia Democrat hails from a state that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election by a two-to-one margin. Moreover, outside of the Republican caucus, he’s one of the most outspoken senators when it comes to national debt.

“I truly love all of my caucus. Every one of them,” an exuberant Schumer said after the bill passed on Saturday.

After a reporter asked if he loved Manchin, Schumer responded, “Yes. Absolutely.”

Progressives, meanwhile, also backed the bill despite the fact that a $15 minimum wage hike wasn’t included. Manchin and seven other Democrats voted against a motion to allow its addition. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), in particular, faced criticism from some on the left for the way she voted against the measure. But Schumer didn’t hold that against her, noting that she stuck with Democrats on the coronavirus bill. 

“On the major issue before us, she was very helpful. She turned down all these difficult [Republican] amendments … I’m positive about her,” Schumer said.

But that doesn’t mean that progressives didn’t achieve any victories. The bill includes direct funding for child care, major financial support for people who buy health insurance on their own through Affordable Care Act exchanges, additional direct payments for dependents, and substantial increases in the child tax credit ― all measures that could cut child poverty in half, by one estimate.

As Sanders said after the vote on Saturday, the bill is “the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working people in the modern history of this country.”

But even after they send the bill to Biden’s desk next week (if all goes according to plan), Democrats know their job won’t be done. The party is actively planning to avoid one of their biggest mistakes after the passage of the 2009 stimulus bill, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama: failing to adequately sell it to the public. The error led to their disastrous performance in the 2010 midterm elections.

Schumer vowed on Saturday that his party will be “letting the American people know all the important parts of this bill.”

Yet passing the coronavirus bill may have been the easiest part for Schumer. He must now keep his fractious caucus united on coming fights over other Biden nominees that are facing stiff GOP opposition, and turn to what will likely be the president’s second legislative priority: a major green infrastructure and jobs bill.

Manchin has signaled his preference for finding bipartisan support for a major overhaul to the nation’s roads and bridges, instead of moving forward without Republicans. Biden is also naturally more disposed to working across the aisle. But Schumer expressed skepticism about the prospect for bipartisan cooperation on infrastructure, an issue that will come to a head soon.

“Maybe now they’ll learn to work with us,” he said, pointing to his caucus’s unity on the coronavirus bill. “We’ll see, I don’t have much faith.”

Still, Biden sang Schumer’s praises on Saturday, crediting him for herding his first major legislative accomplishment through the Senate.

“Chuck Schumer. Senator Chuck Schumer. When the country needed you most, you led, Chuck,” Biden said at the White House.