Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 15
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is staring down a tricky to-do list as he looks to navigate the political winds of the November elections and secure bipartisan wins on several key items that have proven elusive.
With government funding for fiscal 2024 out of the way, the Democratic leader is turning his attention to what he hopes will be some bipartisan work and to the ongoing churn of executive and judicial nominations. But the election cycle is already well underway, and contested Senate races are likely to color that work.
Schumer’s bipartisan wish-list, which he laid out Friday in a letter to Senate Democrats, is extensive and ambitious, with much of it carrying over from the year-end agenda he released in August. Headlining that list is rail safety legislation, a cannabis banking package and potential work on Big Tech, including a kids’ safety bill and on the future of TikTok.
Complicating completion of that work is a series of must-pass items — including FISA renewal later this month and FAA reauthorization in May — and an expected supplemental package to deal with the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month. Schumer in the coming months will likely also try not to subject his members up for reelection in November to tough votes.
Democrats are facing an uphill climb this fall to retain the chamber. Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) decision to retire effectively hands the seat to Republicans, leaving the GOP one short of a majority. Democrats will almost certainly have to run the table, coupled with a reelection victory for President Biden, in order to keep hold of the chamber.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is the lead Democratic sponsor of the rail safety proposal that was crafted following the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, while Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has been a key player in the push for SAFE Banking legislation that would give the cannabis industry access to legal banking services. The pair are considered among the top targets for Republicans this year.
Another call Schumer could have to make down the line is whether to turn the chamber’s attention almost exclusively to lifetime judicial nominees if he sees a point of no electoral return for Biden or any of his members up in November.
Another question is the level of cooperation he receives from his Republican counterparts, who are in the early stages of an internal battle to find a replacement for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) atop the conference and fill out the rest of the leadership team.
Source: The Hill
