Senator Charles Schumer is now the first party leader in the history of the U.S. Senate. As the new Democratic Party leader he will be expected to take on President Donald Trump.
But the senior senator from New York will only be the Minority Leader and all of the real power in the Senate will be in the hands of the continuing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. And unlike his predecessor, Harry Reid who also led a minority party, Schumer will not be dealing with a fellow Democrat in The White House.
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Schumer might have an easier time than others when it comes to dealing with the new President. After the Senator was elected part leader, Donald Trump surprisingly tweeted that he was pleased with the news saying, “I have always had a good relationship with Chuck Schumer. He is far smarter than Harry R and has the ability to get things done. Good news!”
https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/801221577622847488
One major issue that Charles Schumer will be trying to hold the line on against the Republican Party is the Affordable Care Act. Donald Trump and the entire Republican establishment has sworn to end it since the law was first past. Republicans believe that President Obama’s signature achievement has been bad for the U.S. economy.
But Senator Schumer and the Democrats will hold a lot more than 40 out of the 100 seats in the Senate. This will let them prevent the Republicans from getting the needed sixty votes to end a filibuster and therefore give the Democrats the ability to preserve Obamacare. Schumer also maintains that there is a majority of Democrats and Republicans combined who will oppose doing away with the Dodd Frank Bill.
Donald Trump has promised to undo the legislation which increased regulations in the banking and securities fields in response to the sub prime mortgage debacle of 2008.
https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/800354052240449541
But Schumer also sees hope in protecting much of the Democratic political platform under a President Trump. This is because he feels that Donald Trump ran on a platform that was essentially Democratic on many issues.
The Senator told The Wall Street Journal, “I think he [Trump] won the blue-collar vote far more because of the Democratic programs he espoused than the Republican. We’re challenging him to work with us on those, which means he will have to tell the Republican establishment that he’s not going to agree with them on those issues.”
Democrats are hoping that Mr. Schumer will be a stronger advocate for the party than Harry Reid was. Democrats were not happy with how their Congressional leadership functioned when in the minority under the Republican President George Bush.
So the spotlight will be on Charles Schumer for the next four years. His success will be measured on how much of the Trump-Republican agenda he can keep from passing.
