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August 10, 2022
Presented by Americans for Prosperity
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivered $1,500 yearly to families, boosting growth, wages, and jobs. Letting it expire could mean higher taxes and lost progress. Congress: Renew the TCJA to protect families, businesses, and prosperity for all.
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LEADER LOOK
What’s on Schumer’s mind
Charles Ellis Schumer has been the Senate majority leader for roughly 19 months. The ride has been something like the Cyclone in his native Brooklyn – rickety and often bumpy, but when you reach the top, it’s quite a view.
Schumer and his Senate Democratic Caucus have been riding high during the last few weeks.
The gutter-scraping low came in late 2021 and early 2022. Talks between Schumer, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and President Joe Biden’s over the Build Back Better Act blew up, leaving bitter feelings among all three. Manchin went on Fox News Sunday on Dec. 19 to declare he wouldn’t vote for the bill, Biden’s top legislative priority. The venue for Manchin’s statement was as much a blow to Schumer as what the West Virginia Democrat said.
Just weeks later, Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), despite extraordinary pressure from Schumer, Biden and party activists, refused to go along with eliminating the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation. Schumer had gambled that lobbying by their colleagues would sway the pair, but the decision backfired on him. The Democrats’ agenda looked dead in the water. And with inflation soaring and Biden’s poll ratings sinking, Democrats’ hopes for holding onto the Senate in November seemed to be evaporating as well.
Yet what followed these twin setbacks is symbolic of Schumer and his style of leadership.
The key to understanding Schumer is to hear him talk about his father Abe. Abe, who died last year at 98, toiled away at a small exterminating business for decades to help support his family. Persistence, he taught his son, would pay off.
“If you are doing the right thing, and you don’t give up, God will reward you,” Schumer told us in his office Tuesday, quoting his late father. “So persist.”
Thus in late February 2022, after months of tension between Schumer and Manchin, the two sat down at Trattoria Alberto on Capitol Hill for a private meal. Schumer told Manchin that he had proven his mettle; the West Virginia Democrat had veto power on the Democratic agenda. Manchin could get what he wanted, Schumer said, yet Manchin needed to understand that Democrats needed 50 votes to pass anything.
Manchin had his demands. The West Virginia Democrat only wanted to deal with Schumer, he didn’t want a barrage of lawmakers lobbying him and he didn’t want to cut a deal until the second quarter inflation numbers came out.
They spent April and May talking about a large reconciliation deal that would raise a dollar of deficit reduction for every dollar of spending. This bill would include provisions, however, that would make the left queasy: oil and gas drilling and permitting reform, to name two.
Schumer had to work his own internal politics. He called together his climate group into his office – Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Tina Smith of Minnesota and Brian Schatz of Hawaii – and they all agreed that the majority leader should cut whatever deal he could with Manchin.
By the time the July 4 recess rolled around, Schumer and Manchin appeared close to a compromise. But when Manchin returned from that two-week break, the West Virginia Democrat said he couldn’t agree to anything. Schumer attempted to persuade Manchin to agree to a deal with no taxes, but Manchin balked.
On July 14, the Washington Post broke the news that Manchin had again walked away from a large-scale deal. Instead, Senate Democrats would have to fall back on an extension of Obamacare subsidies and allowing Medicare to negotiate on prescription drug prices.
Shortly after that, Manchin approached Schumer and said he wanted to re-open discussions.
This was a massive gamble for the majority leader.
“The risk of that was he could have backed off even prescription drugs,” Schumer said. “We were setting up prescription drugs and the ACA, which is still pretty good.”
But Schumer went ahead. He retreated with Manchin to a basement office in the Capitol that Schumer didn’t even know belonged to him. They persisted – kept talking, found common ground – and crafted the Inflation Reduction Act.
On Sunday, Schumer had to clear one more stumbling block. The deal was on the brink of falling apart when Sinema took issue with a tax provision that targeted companies owned by private equity firms. All of the sudden, Schumer realized he was about to lose $35 billion in revenue and maybe the whole agreement.
Sinema found common ground with Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who had an amendment to spare these subsidiaries by extending the cap on state and local tax deductions. Schumer was able to box Sinema in by dispatching Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to offer a separate amendment that spared high tax states by extending a separate business pass through provision. Problem solved.
We were curious what Schumer learned about himself and his own leadership through this elongated episode. Here’s what he said:
So what’s on Schumer’s mind now? He has a congressional session to wrap up – government funding, same-sex marriage and then his own reelection. Schumer told us that he believes Democrats will pick up seats this cycle. He said in the battleground states, voters say they favor a Democratic Senate by five points. This number ticked up two points after the Dobbs decision. Here’s Schumer on 2022:
– Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Max Cohen
PRESENTED BY NATIONAL MINORITY QUALITY FORUM
Minorities’ top healthcare priorities? Healthcare costs, health equity, and boosting R&D for future treatments. More in our poll with the National Hispanic Council on Aging.
FRONTS
PRESENTED BY NATIONAL MINORITY QUALITY FORUM
More in our poll with the National Hispanic Council on Aging.
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Presented by Americans for Prosperity
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act gave families $1,500 yearly, boosted small businesses, and strengthened U.S. competitiveness. Allowing it to expire would jeopardize this progress. Congress: Renew the TCJA to secure growth and prosperity for all.