The filibuster tradition, with its 60-vote threshold to advance most measures, is a powerful tool wielded by McConnell and Republicans (and Democrats, when they are the minority party) that can block almost any initiative. Unlike previous highly productive sessions of Congress, Schumer does not enjoy the big majorities typically required to get work done. Oh, didn’t we do a huge bipartisan infrastructure bill last year? That was the biggest in a generation? And before that the American Rescue Plan? Yes, we did.” “Remember, any one of those would have been the biggest bill passed in the Congress. “This is the longest there’s ever been an evenly divided Senate, and it is a real tribute to leader Schumer that he has managed to corral all 50 Democrats behind a legislative agenda,” said Sen. In addition to legislation, over the past 18 months under Schumer’s leadership the Senate held the nation’s fourth-ever presidential impeachment trial, eventually acquitting Donald Trump on charges he incited the Capitol insurrection ratified the accession of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, and confirmed the first Black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, as a justice to the U.S. This week Biden is about to sign into law a $280 billion bipartisan bill to boost the semiconductor industry as well as a nearly $300 billion measure to help veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.īy themselves, Democrats muscled through a $1 trillion COVID-aid package that McConnell calls a buffet of “all-you-can-eat liberal spending.” But McConnell and Republicans joined Schumer in passing the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill for the nation’s roads, broadband and other needs. The toughest gun violence measure in a generation, a bipartisan effort to tighten who can own guns, is now law. But some have been backed by Republicans with rare bipartisan accord, adding up to a Congress with unexpected gains. Over the weekend, he argued that the Democrats have mistaken their slim control, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast a tie-breaking vote, as a mandate for far-reaching policy goals.Īnd the 755-page bill comes on top of a string of similarly pared-back initiatives, deep disappointments for the party’s liberal wing. Republicans deride the Democrats’ effort as “yet another reckless taxing-and-spending spree,” as Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell put it. With revenue raised from corporate taxes and allowing the federal government to negotiate some prescription drug costs with pharmaceutical companies, the remaining $300 billion goes to deficit reduction. For Biden and the Democrats, it builds on long-running aspirations of lowering health care costs, taxing big corporations that skip paying their share and launching the nation’s largest investment, some $375 billion, to fight climate change. The $740 billion package, less than once envisioned but still huge, would be a big legislative win for any president and his party. I persist,” Schumer said in an interview late Sunday evening after the round-the-clock session and Senate passage of Biden’s bill. Methodical he is not, as the crumbs scattered on the senatorial carpet in his office off the Senate floor attest.īut with a willingness to broker politically unpleasant compromises and a New Yorker’s drive to keep pestering his colleagues, Schumer is using his party’s fragile control of the Senate for substantive, sizable accomplishments unseen in recent years. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, and he has helmed the chamber through a tumultuous, messy and yet surprisingly productive run with the longest evenly split 50-50 Senate in the nation’s history. New York’s Chuck Schumer effectively moved from minority to majority leader of the U.S. WASHINGTON (AP) - Shoes off, an almost-empty container of leftovers, an unfinished glass of wine - this was the exhausted portrait of one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington after Senate passage of President Joe Biden’s sweeping health, climate and economic package. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.

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