Chuck Schumer's 99 problems

The new Senate majority leader faces a "perfect storm" as his tenure begins.

By BURGESS EVERETT and MARIANNE LEVINE @ Politico.com, 01/23/2021 07:00 AM EST​

[....] Schumer is facing down a hard-nosed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is refusing to cut a deal to govern the 50-50 Senate without a commitment to protecting the filibuster. He must marshal Donald Trump’s impeachment trial through the Senate while also trying to get President Joe Biden’s Cabinet confirmed. And he has to figure out how to respond to a crippling pandemic and struggling economy while Republicans have already rejected Biden’s relief proposal.

Even within his own party Schumer faces competing pressures, with moderates hopeful for bipartisan consensus and some liberals agitating for him to show McConnell won’t control the Democratic agenda. McConnell’s focus on the filibuster has only heightened progressives’ alarm that the chamber’s 60-vote threshold could stifle the party’s ambitions. What’s more, Schumer himself is up for reelection next year and could face a long-shot primary challenge

“Leader Schumer is standing strong and that’s exactly what he needs to do,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who serves on Schumer’s leadership team. “Mitch McConnell seems to think he’s going to get a veto over everything that happens the next four years. And he’s wrong.”

Schumer has had little time to prepare: Democrats didn’t win the majority until the Georgia runoffs in January. And the day Schumer learned he got the job, the Capitol was invaded by pro-Trump rioters. His time to soak in the good news was limited to just a few hours.

That timeline has meant a crash course [....]