WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer was huddled in his Capitol office Thursday night awaiting a pivotal meeting with Kyrsten Sinema, a critical part of his painstakingly negotiated deal on climate change, tax and health care, when the rumblings and Lightning from a powerful thunderstorm shook Washington, flashing lights.
Mr. Schumer and his aides, so close to a landmark legislative achievement to cap a string of surprise victories, eyed each other anxiously and wondered if this was a bad omen. A 50-50 Senate, a pandemic that kept Democrats constantly guessing who would be available to vote, and the sheer difficulty of running the nearly unmanageable chamber had left them superstitious.
“I’ve been a worrier all my life, but a happy worrier,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat and Majority Leader.
It was a dazzling change of fortune. Just a few weeks earlier, Mr. Schumer, the Democratic agenda and the party’s chances of retaining its simple majority in the Senate all seemed in bad shape as the latest negotiations on the general legislation seemed to crumble for good under the weight of the resistance of Senator Joe. Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia.
Instead, Democrats not only landed their greatest prize — climate legislation and party-line taxation — but also capped an extraordinarily productive race for a Congress best known for its paralysis. It included the passage of the first bipartisan gun safety legislation in a generation, a massive microchip production and scientific research bill to bolster American competitiveness with China, and a major care measure. health care for veterans.
The string of successes was all the sweeter for Democrats because it came with the political advantage of Republicans to make themselves look bad by changing positions and temporarily blocking the bill to help sick veterans, in what seemed like a tantrum at the brutal resurrection. of the climate agreement.
“We’ve had an amazing six weeks,” Schumer said in an interview, calling the climate, health and tax measure “the most comprehensive piece of legislation affecting the American people in decades.”
It was far from certain that he could achieve this result. Mr. Schumer, who unlike his predecessors is not known as a master tactician or gifted legislator, has struggled to produce for long stretches, needing every vote from an ideologically mixed Democratic membership. Even his allies wondered if he was too driven by a need to be liked or by his own personal political considerations in warding off a potential primal challenge from his left to be capable of the kind of cruelty that would be required.
Mr Schumer said endurance, not bare joints, had been the main requirement.
“It’s the toughest job I’ve ever had, with a 50-50 Senate, a big program and hard-line Republicans,” Schumer said. He cited a perseverance instilled in him by his father, who ran an extermination business and died last year, as the motivating factor. “Go on, go on. Look at all the pitfalls we faced in getting there.
What’s in the Democrats’ climate and tax bill
The swing on Capitol Hill was palpable as Democrats allowed themselves hope that their legislative victories, coupled with a national fight against abortion that they said was shaking the political landscape in their favor, could keep them in control of the Senate. . And for once, they thought they were ahead of Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and Minority Leader, who has a habit of successfully confounding Democrats.
“The mood is exuberant, full of expectation, and really excited about the progress we’ve made over the past few weeks,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut.
Mr. Schumer won the victories without deep White House involvement. President Biden, who had campaigned for the presidency citing his deep experience in brokering bipartisan deals in the Senate, handed over much of the responsibility for fixing the details to him. Final negotiations with Mr. Manchin were held face-to-face in near total secrecy.
Republicans licked their wounds as they watched Schumer-led Democrats push through legislation that the GOP was powerless to stop under special budget rules. They weren’t convinced the Democrats had pulled themselves out of a political hole with a bill they called the Cut Inflation Act, given that Mr Biden’s popularity continues to decline and the cost of consumer goods is rising.
“Highest inflation in 40 years, 9.1%, families are hurting, they can’t afford a full tank of gas,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third Republican in the Senate. “The end of the month has just arrived, and they ran out of money before they ran out of months.”
But Democrats pointed to the long-sought authority’s endorsement of Medicare negotiating lower drug prices as something voters would like, as well as a general sense that Democrats are finally getting things done on Capitol Hill. They relished the prospect of reminding voters that Republicans voted against the drug pricing measure and forced Democrats to drop a proposal that would have capped the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for private insurers.
They also pointed to the climate change provisions as a huge leap forward, although not as big as what Democrats had originally hoped to achieve before Mr Manchin forced the party to scale back its targets.
“This is a landmark climate bill, and it wasn’t on the dashboard a month ago,” said Sen. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and leader on climate issues. “Senator Schumer, working with Manchin, was able to pull out the key climate provisions that we need. It’s not all we wanted, but it was what we needed to start this effort to lead the rest of the world.
Democrats have also received help from Republicans. Not only did the blunder on the veterans bill play into their hands, but Democrats said a threat from Mr. McConnell to block the microchip bill if Democrats go ahead with the Climate and Taxation Bill was backfiring by motivating Mr. Manchin to seek a compromise.
“Any time you threaten a bill that you support because you get nothing else, you’re in for a bad time,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland. “It just looks bad. It was so grossly political.
While he was being hammered by the left, Mr McConnell was also being hammered by the right for being too soft on Democrats on bills such as the Microchip Measure and the Gun Measure . But Mr. McConnell also has his eye on midterms, and he knows Republicans need suburban voters who might be put off by knee-jerk obstructionism.
“Just because you have a tightly divided government doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything,” McConnell said on Fox News last week. “Just because there’s a Democrat in the White House doesn’t mean Republicans don’t have to do anything good for the country in the meantime.”
This approach strengthened Democrats at a crucial time, entering the heart of the campaign season.
“There’s a clear shift in momentum,” said Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat and leader of the party’s Senate campaign arm. “I feel like we’re in a really good place. Here we go into August as we approach Labor Day, and you look at where the numbers are, and our candidates are all doing very well in a difficult environment.
After the break, Mr. Schumer and his fellow Democrats intend to try to pressure their success, scheduling politically charged votes on same-sex marriage, the price of oil and other issues they say will can showcase their strengths and put Republicans on the spot.
But even as he was about to register a major achievement, Mr. Schumer was taking no chances. When the leader of an environmental advocacy group introduced him as a hero after an event outside the Capitol on Thursday, Schumer warned him: “Not yet, not yet.”
Mr Schumer said the result underscored a key difference between him and Mr McConnell, who is known more for blockades and deadly legislation than for passing bills.
“He brags about the cemetery,” Mr. Schumer said. “I would like to be proud of the accomplishments, of getting things done – not of not getting things done.”