New Yorkers aged 21 and older can now legally possess and consume cannabis.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday morning to legalize adult-use, recreational cannabis in New York and create the country’s second-largest recreational marijuana market.
With the governor’s endorsement of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which cleared the Legislature late Tuesday, New York officially joins 16 other states, including New Jersey and Massachusetts, that have embraced full legalization. More than two-thirds of the northeast’s 56 million residents will live in states that have legalized recreational cannabis, ramping up pressure on Washington, D.C., to ease federal restrictions on the drug.
“This is a historic day in New York — one that rights the wrongs of the past by putting an end to harsh prison sentences, embraces an industry that will grow the Empire State’s economy, and prioritizes marginalized communities so those that have suffered the most will be the first to reap the benefits,” Cuomo said in a statement issued after he quietly signed the bill.
Andrew Giuliani, a special assistant in the Trump White House and son of Rudy Giuliani, is mulling a run for governor of New York next year.
In an interview with the conservative-leaning Washington Examiner, Andrew Giuliani said he’s “heavily considering” running against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been battered by a series of controversies — including allegations of sexual harassment made by several women.
Giuliani said that he thinks Republicans — who last won a New York gubernatorial contest in 2002 — have a “very, very real chance to win” and that he would have the best shot “outside of anybody named Trump.”
New Yorkers aged 21 and older can now legally possess and consume cannabis.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday morning to legalize adult-use, recreational cannabis in New York and create the country’s second-largest recreational marijuana market.
With the governor’s endorsement of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which cleared the Legislature late Tuesday, New York officially joins 16 other states, including New Jersey and Massachusetts, that have embraced full legalization. More than two-thirds of the northeast’s 56 million residents will live in states that have legalized recreational cannabis, ramping up pressure on Washington, D.C., to ease federal restrictions on the drug.
“This is a historic day in New York — one that rights the wrongs of the past by putting an end to harsh prison sentences, embraces an industry that will grow the Empire State’s economy, and prioritizes marginalized communities so those that have suffered the most will be the first to reap the benefits,” Cuomo said in a statement issued after he quietly signed the bill.
Andrew Giuliani, a special assistant in the Trump White House and son of Rudy Giuliani, is mulling a run for governor of New York next year.
In an interview with the conservative-leaning Washington Examiner, Andrew Giuliani said he’s “heavily considering” running against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been battered by a series of controversies — including allegations of sexual harassment made by several women.
Giuliani said that he thinks Republicans — who last won a New York gubernatorial contest in 2002 — have a “very, very real chance to win” and that he would have the best shot “outside of anybody named Trump.”
The Government of the State of New York, headquartered at the New York State Capitol in Albany, encompasses the administrative structure of the U.S. state of New York, as established by the state’s constitution. Analogously to the US federal government, it is composed of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The head of the executive is the governor. The Legislature consists of the Senate and the Assembly. The Unified Court System consists of the Court of Appeals and lower courts. The state is also divided into counties, cities, towns, and villages, which are all municipal corporations with their own government.
The Government of the State of New York, headquartered at the New York State Capitol in Albany, encompasses the administrative structure of the U.S. state of New York, as established by the state’s constitution. Analogously to the US federal government, it is composed of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The head of the executive is the governor. The Legislature consists of the Senate and the Assembly. The Unified Court System consists of the Court of Appeals and lower courts. The state is also divided into counties, cities, towns, and villages, which are all municipal corporations with their own government.
New York is located in the Northeastern region of the USA with Albany as its capital. Andrew Cuomo (D) is Governor.
The New York legislature has 63 Senate members and 150 House members.
Office
Name
Party
Assumed office
Next election
Term limited
Maximum term length
Governor
Kathy Hochul
Democratic
August 24, 2021
2022
No
No limits
Lieutenant Governor*
Antonio Delgado
Democratic
May 25, 2022
2022
No
No limits
Attorney General
Tish James
Democratic
January 1, 2019
2022
No
No limits
Comptroller
Thomas DiNapoli
Democratic
February 7, 2007
2022
No
No limits
Kathy Hochul
Current Position: Governor Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 Governor Former Position(s): Lt. Governor from 2015 – 2021
Featured Quote: Thank you @JayJacobs28 and all the county chairs from @nydems for joining me tonight to discuss the importance of the local races happening this November. You all are the heart and soul of the party. Go fight win! Sept. 19, 2011.
Current Position: US Senator since 1998 Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 US Senator Former Position(s): State Senator from 1981 – 1999; State Delegate from 1975 – 1980
Other Positions: Senate Majority Leader
Featured Quote: ublic housing is a precious asset. I toured Red Hook Houses with @NydiaVelazquez @JabariBrisport @MarcelaforNY to spotlight conditions. We’re working to at least double the #AmericanJobsPlan investment to make public housing livable, sustainable, and create good local jobs.
Featured Video: Schumer VOWS to pass both infrastructure packages before August recess
Current Position: US Senator since 2009 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): US Representative from 2007 – 2009
Other Positions: Chair, Subcommittee on Livestock, Marketing and Agriculture Security – Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Chair, Subcommittee on Personnel – Armed Services
Featured Quote: The last time the federal minimum wage was raised was 12 years ago. $7.25 an hour isn’t enough for America’s workers to get by. It’s time to #RaiseTheWage to $15 an hour.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 1 since 2015 Affiliation: Republican Candidate: 2022 US Representative for District 1 Former Position(s): State Senator from 2011 – 2014
Featured Quote: There’s a desperate, urgent need for geographic & political balance in Albany. Just discussed this with @OTHNews while in Western NY & the Southern Tier these past 48 hours. NYers are ALL IN to FIRE Cuomo & Save Our State! They’re ready to vote TODAY!
Current Position: US Representative for NY 2nd District since 2021 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): State Delegate from 2013 – 2020
Featured Quote: The SALT Cap unfairly penalizes Long Islanders and I’m committed to fully restoring it. That’s why I’m a proud Co-Chair and Founder of the bipartisan #SALTCaucus. We need the SALT deduction restored now – Long Island families deserve better.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 3 since 2017 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=Thomas+Suozzi&type=site from 2002 – 2009; Mayor Glen Cove from 1994 – 2001
Featured Quote: @senatemajldr to NY & States: Drop Dead. Since ’15, NY taxpayers have given the fed gov $116B more than we’ve rec’d back in fed spending, while Ky has RECEIVED $148B more in fed spending then they gave. NY subsidizes KY! @NYDailyNews @NYGov
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 4 since 2015 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): District Attorney of Nassau County from 2006 – 2015
Featured Quote: I met with my friends at @LIFEDofLABORthis morning to discuss Long Island’s infrastructure needs. I’m proud to be a strong advocate for our healthcare heroes, offshore wind, affordable broadband, prevailing wages, and other critical labor priorities that LI’s future depends on.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 5 since 1998 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): State Delegate from 1993 – 1998
Other Positions: Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee
Featured Quote: All people should be treated equally, regardless of who they are or who they love. This month, we recognize and celebrate our LGBTQI+ community and the challenges they have overcome and are still overcoming. Happy #PrideMonth!
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 6 since 2013 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): State Delegate from 2009 – 2012
Featured Quote: Anti-Asian hate crimes are NOT an #AsianAmerican issue. It is an American issue. Please stand with me and the #AAPI community to condemn this horrific violence and reject bigotry, hate, and intolerance. Enough is enough. We must work together to #StopAsianHate .
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 7 since 1993 Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2021 US Senator Former Position(s): New York City Council from 1993 – 2013
Other Positions: Chair, House Small Business Committee.
Featured Quote: This footage is extremely disturbing. I call yet again on @PRPDnoticias to refrain from the use of violence. They must respect the right of people to freely protest in Rincón. #PuertoRico
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 9 since 2007 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): New York City Council from 2002 – 2006
Other Positions: Chair, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Innovation – Homeland Security
Featured Quote: It is with profound sadness that I share the loss of my dear friend and colleague Mary Bishop. Mary has been with me for more than 15 years; she began working with my campaign for Congress and was critical to our success.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 10 since 1992 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): State Delegate from 1977 – 1992
Other Positions: Chair, Judiciary Committee
Featured Quote: I couldn’t be prouder of all @HouseJudiciary has already accomplished this Congress. It’s an honor to lead this august committee—the work to build a more just America endures.
Current Position: US Representative for NY 11th District since 2021 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): State Delegate from 2011 – 2020
Featured Quote: The @StateDept must get its employees back to work ASAP. My office continues to assist those in our district having difficulty obtaining a passport but the backlog must be addressed so the system works for every citizen. Also please beware of scams!
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 12 since 1993 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): New York City Council from 1983 – 1993
Other Positions: Chair, Committee on Oversight and Reform
Featured Quote: I promised I would investigate Jan 6, regardless of the outcome of the impeachment or vote on a bipartisan commission. This morning, @OversightDems, the Committee I chair, released new docs about Trump’s pressure campaign on DOJ to overturn the election.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 13 since 2017 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): State Delegate from 1997 – 2010
Featured Quote: Just a reminder that Mitch McConnell blocked Merrick Garland 8 months before an election but confirmed Amy Coney Barrett 8 days before an election when 65 million people had already voted. Court packing is the Republican playbook.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 14 since 2019 Affiliation: Democrat
Featured Quote: Last January I was sworn in for my first term in Congress. So, what have we accomplished since then? Let’s take 2(ish) minutes to review.
Current Position: US Representative for NY 15th District since 2021 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): New York City Council from 2014 – 2020
Featured Quote: It’s official. We won! It is the honor of a lifetime to be able to serve our community in Washington DC. The counting took longer than expected, but today the @BOENYC certified our victory & I want to say thank you..
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 16 since 2021 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): Educator from 2003 – 2020
Other Positions: Vice Chair, Committee on Education and Labor
Featured Quote: I spent 20 years as an educator, seeing firsthand how transforming a child’s learning environment can unlock their full potential. The Green New Deal for Public Schools is about transforming our schools into cleaner spaces for our children and our planet.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 18 since 2013 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): White House Staff Secretary from 1999 – 2000
Other Positions: Chair, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Featured Quote: In 2017, Trump and the GOP came for New York with their tax scam. For years, NY families have been slammed by the unfair cap on state and local tax deductions. We need to put an end to this double taxation and enact smart tax reforms that allow NY working families to thrive.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 19 since 2019 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): US Senator
Other Positions: Chair, Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit – Agriculture
Featured Quote: While federal relief programs have helped many, too often, our smaller family-run farm operations are shut out from direct support. I joined @RepJahanaHayes to reintroduce legislation to create a new USDA loan program to better serve farmers during economic crises.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 20 since 2009 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): State Delegate from 1983 – 2007Chair, Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change
Featured Quote: I told my mom I’d make it on a Wheaties Box one day. Proud to show her that dream come true thanks to this great honor, @scicoalition’s 2020 #ChampionofScience award! I will always fight to ensure science drives our politics and not the other way around.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 21 since 2015 Affiliation: Republican
Other Positions: Chair, House Republican Conference
Featured Quote: Joe Biden and Dems’ reckless spending policies created the worst inflation crisis since the Great Recession. And their solution is even worse.
Current Position: US Representative for NY 22nd District since 2021 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): State Delegate from 2011 – 2016
Featured Quote: My 100 day election count in #NY22 is actual proof that the Election of 2020 was not “clean” and the planned chaos engineered mostly by Democrats undermined Election Integrity. That is the Big Truth. #ElectionIntegrity
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 23 since 2010 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): Mayor Corning, NY from 2003 – 2010
Featured Quote: Andrew Cuomo’s lies, harassment, and cover-ups must end. His ego and refusal to resign leave us with no choice but to remove him from office ourselves. Join me in calling for his impeachment and removal by signing your name right now.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 24 since 2015 Affiliation: Republican
Featured Quote: The 60-day public comment period for the I-81 project is a critical time where the public can and should make their voices heard. For information on how to participate in the public comment period click here
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 25 since 2018 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): State Delegate from 1991 – 2018
Featured Quote: Today marks the 12-year anniversary since the last increase to the federal minimum wage in 2009. The federal minimum wage is STILL $7.25, and working families deserve better. It’s time to #RaiseTheWage.
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 26 since 2005 Affiliation: Democrat Former Position(s): State Delegate from 1999 – 2004; Buffalo Common Council from 1988 – 1993
Featured Quote: n 2020, amid the COVID pandemic, Buffalo saw a 90% increase in gun violence w/ 355 victims. Already in 2021, 46 people have lost their lives. $5M in #AmericanRescuePlan funding for Buffalo will help trusted messengers prevent additional families from facing similar tragedies.
Current Position: US Representative for NY 27th District Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): County Clerk of Erie County from 2012 – 2017; US Senator; Secretary of State from 2006 – 2007
Featured Quote: Proud to join my @housebudgetGOP colleagues in calling for Congress to enact fiscally responsible spending plans. We have seen the impact of unchecked partisan spending already this year, our nation and our grandchildren cannot afford more of it.
be a resident of New York and the county, city, or village for at least 30 days before Election Day
be 18 years old by December 31 of the year you register (You must be 18 years old by the date of the general, primary, or other election in which you want to vote)
not be in prison or on parole for a felony conviction (unless parolee pardoned or restored rights of citizenship)
not currently be judged incompetent by a court
not claim the right to vote elsewhere
How to register
Use our Register to Vote form below to fill out the National Voter Registration Form.
Sign and date your form. This is very important!
Mail or hand-deliver your completed form to the address we provide.
Make sure you register before the voter registration deadline.
Election Day registration N/A
Voting Rights restoration
If you have been convicted of a felony and have questions about whether you can register to vote, visit Restore Your Vote to determine your eligibility.
You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation.
If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.
Voting with Disabilities
Most polling places are now accessible to the handicapped. If yours is not, you may ask to have your records transferred to a nearby accessible polling place where the ballot will be the same as in your election district. You may also vote by absentee ballot. If you have a long-term or permanent illness or disability, you can apply for a permanent absentee ballot and you will automatically receive one before each primary and general election. For additional information, please visit your state’s Board of Election.
Beginning Fall 2019 – NY will have early voting available! Early voting begins 10 days before the election and continues through two days before the election (not voting the day before Election Day). Each county has multiple voting sites available. Each voting site has different hours, so check www.nyearlyvoting.org to determine the best voting site for you.
For more information on your specific counties early voting rules, please visit the LWVNY early voting website!
Vote by Mail (Absentee)
Absentee ballot rules
You may vote by absentee ballot in New York if you expect to be:
Absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City, absent from New York City, on Election Day
Unable to appear at the polls due to illness or physical disability or because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled
A resident or patient of a Veterans Health Administration Hospital
Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.
How to get Absentee ballot
Use our Absentee Ballot form below to prepare your application.
Sign and date the form. This is very important!
Return your completed application to your Local Election Office as soon as possible. We’ll provide the mailing address for you.
All Local Election Offices will accept mailed or hand-delivered forms. If it’s close to the deadline, call and see if your Local Election Office will let you fax or email the application.
Make sure your application is received by the deadline. Your application must actually arrive by this time — simply being postmarked by the deadline is insufficient.
Please contact your Local Election Office if you have any further questions about the exact process.
What to do next
Once you receive the ballot, carefully read and follow the instructions.
Sign and date where indicated.
Mail your voted ballot back to the address indicated on the return envelope.
Your voted ballot must arrive by the deadline or it will not be counted.
Absentee ballot application deadline
In Person: 1 day before Election Day
By Mail: 7 days before Election Day.
Absentee ballot submission deadline
Postmarked 1 day before Election Day and received 7 days after Election Day. Voted ballots can also be turned in by hand on election day.
Absentee Ballot (form)
Elections Alert (Form)
Pollling Information
Polling Place Locator
You can find your polling place by utilizing your state resource.
If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your local board of elections.
Polling Place Hours
Polling places will be open from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Poll Worker Information
In order to be a poll worker in New York:
You will be entitled to compensation
You must be registered to vote in New York
You must be at least 18 years of age
Political affiliation required
You must be a resident of the county or in New York city must be a resident of the city
A training course and an exam must be completed
Students 16 or 17 years old who are enrolled in high school may be appointed
The State Board of Elections was established in the Executive Department June 1, 1974 as a bipartisan agency vested with the responsibility for administration and enforcement of all laws relating to elections in New York State. The Board is also responsible for regulating disclosure and limitations of a Fair Campaign Code intended to govern campaign practices. In conducting these wide-ranging responsibilities, the Board offers assistance to local election boards and investigates complaints of possible statutory violations. In addition to the regulatory and enforcement responsibilities the board is charged with the preservation of citizen confidence in the democratic process and enhancement in voter participation in elections. The State Board of Elections is also committed to providing accessible information to individuals with disabilities, including voters, members of the public, candidates, media and treasurers.
Current Position: Governor Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 Governor Former Position(s): Lt. Governor from 2015 – 2021
Featured Quote: Thank you @JayJacobs28 and all the county chairs from @nydems for joining me tonight to discuss the importance of the local races happening this November. You all are the heart and soul of the party. Go fight win! Sept. 19, 2011
Current Position: US Representative for NY District 1 since 2015 Affiliation: Republican Candidate: 2022 Governor for District 1 Former Position(s): State Senator from 2011 – 2014
Featured Quote: There’s a desperate, urgent need for geographic & political balance in Albany. Just discussed this with @OTHNews while in Western NY & the Southern Tier these past 48 hours. NYers are ALL IN to FIRE Cuomo & Save Our State! They’re ready to vote TODAY!
Current Position: Governor Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 Governor Former Position(s): Lt. Governor from 2015 – 2021
Featured Quote: Thank you @JayJacobs28 and all the county chairs from @nydems for joining me tonight to discuss the importance of the local races happening this November. You all are the heart and soul of the party. Go fight win! Sept. 19, 2011
Featured Video: Gov. Kathy Hochul: Transparency Will Be The Hallmark Of My Administration Aug. 25, 2021
Current Position: Governor Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 Governor Former Position(s): Lt. Governor from 2015 – 2021
Featured Quote: Thank you @JayJacobs28 and all the county chairs from @nydems for joining me tonight to discuss the importance of the local races happening this November. You all are the heart and soul of the party. Go fight win! Sept. 19, 2011
Featured Video: Gov. Kathy Hochul: Transparency Will Be The Hallmark Of My Administration Aug. 25, 2021
Kathy Hochul is the 57th and first female Governor of New York State.
Governor Kathy Hochul began her career in public service on her local Town Board before serving as Erie County Clerk, and then as a member of Congress for New York’s 26th Congressional District. She more recently served in statewide office as Lieutenant Governor and now as the first female Governor of the State of New York.
Lieutenant Governor
As Lieutenant Governor from 2015 to 2021, Hochul successfully spearheaded numerous initiatives and lead the administration’s economic development and job creation efforts across the state, working every day to advocate for policies that help all New Yorkers make ends meet.
She also helped New York State manage the COVID-19 pandemic response, while focusing on a recovery that builds back better and more inclusive.
Hochul chaired the statewide Regional Economic Development Councils that have transformed the state’s economy by building upon regional strengths through long-term strategic plans.
She also served as co-chair of the state’s Heroin and Opioid Task Force to hear from experts and community members in search of answers to the opioid crisis and develop a comprehensive strategy for New York.
As Lieutenant Governor, she championed the ‘Enough is Enough’ law to prevent sexual assault on college campuses, spearheaded the state’s Paid Family Leave program, and worked to eliminate the gender wage gap, expand access to affordable child care, and combat sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace and beyond.
She served as chair of the State’s Women’s Suffrage Commission and co-chair of the state’s Child Care Availability Task Force.
In Congress
From 2011 to 2013, Hochul served in the U.S. House representing New York’s 26th Congressional District. Then Congresswoman Hochul served on the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees, traveling to Afghanistan to confer with military leaders and meet with active duty men and women. Her focus in Congress was job creation and bridging the skills gap by bringing together business and academia, and creating opportunities for returning veterans.
Early Career and Education
Hochul served as Erie County Clerk from 2007 to 2011. Before that, Hochul worked for 14 years as a Hamburg Town Board member. She served as liaison to the local economic development agency and worked to attract new businesses and create jobs following the loss of the Western New York manufacturing base.
Hochul holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a law degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She began her legal career working at a large firm in Washington, D.C. and later served as legal counsel and legislative assistant to Congressman John LaFalce and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She was instrumental in drafting legislation related to campaign finance reform, immigration reform and combatting drug abuse.
In 2006, Hochul joined her mother and aunt in establishing the Kathleen Mary House, a transitional home for victims of domestic violence.
Current Position: US Senator since 1998 Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 US Senator Former Position(s): State Senator from 1981 – 1999; State Delegate from 1975 – 1980
Other Positions: Senate Majority Leader
Featured Quote: ublic housing is a precious asset. I toured Red Hook Houses with @NydiaVelazquez @JabariBrisport @MarcelaforNY to spotlight conditions. We’re working to at least double the #AmericanJobsPlan investment to make public housing livable, sustainable, and create good local jobs.
Current Position: US Senator Affiliation: Democrat
Joe Pinion is an advocate, entrepreneur, and Political News Commentator. Throughout his life, Joe has witnessed both the power of opportunity and the pernicious impact of government driven neglect. The time has come to Restore New York and Rebuild The American Dream.
Current Position: US Senator since 1998 Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 US Senator Former Position(s): State Senator from 1981 – 1999; State Delegate from 1975 – 1980
Other Positions: Senate Majority Leader
Featured Quote: ublic housing is a precious asset. I toured Red Hook Houses with @NydiaVelazquez @JabariBrisport @MarcelaforNY to spotlight conditions. We’re working to at least double the #AmericanJobsPlan investment to make public housing livable, sustainable, and create good local jobs.
Featured Video: Schumer VOWS to pass both infrastructure packages before August recess
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned on Tuesday that action must be taken soon to avert a debt limit crisis, saying in a floor speech, “it’s not too late, but it’s getting dangerously close,” as a key deadline looms on October 18.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned lawmakers that the federal government will likely run out of cash by October 18 unless Congress raises the debt ceiling. But Congress might not even have that long.
That’s because October 18 is not a set-in-stone deadline. It’s more of a best guess estimate of when the money will run out, which makes it far harder to know exactly when Congress would need to act to avert potential financial catastrophe — and increases the odds that lawmakers could accidentally trigger a default by not acting soon enough.
Democrats and Republicans remain at an impasse over how to resolve the issue. Republicans insist that Democrats, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House, should act alone using a process known as budget reconciliation, which can pass on the current Democratic majority alone. Democratic leaders argue that raising the debt limit is a shared bipartisan responsibility and have so far described the use of reconciliation as a non-starter, noting that it would be an unwieldy and time-consuming path to go down and warning that the risks are too high to do so.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Monday to hold the line and deliver sweeping climate change action in Democrats’ party-line social spending bill — though he offered no concrete plans for winning over centrists who’ve expressed reservations.
Flanked by a half-dozen climate hawks during a sweltering afternoon press conference, Schumer said his caucus was doing “everything” it could to meet or exceed President Joe Biden’s goal of curbing U.S. emissions 50 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels.
“The bottom line for all of us is: We can’t let this moment pass us by,” Schumer said at the event, hosted by the environmental groups League of Conservation Voters and Climate Power. “The Senate will act in a way that’s commensurate with the magnitude of the climate crisis.”
Summary
Current Position: US Senator since 1998 Affiliation: Democrat Candidate: 2022 US Senator Former Position(s): State Senator from 1981 – 1999; State Delegate from 1975 – 1980
Other Positions: Senate Majority Leader
Featured Quote: ublic housing is a precious asset. I toured Red Hook Houses with @NydiaVelazquez @JabariBrisport @MarcelaforNY to spotlight conditions. We’re working to at least double the #AmericanJobsPlan investment to make public housing livable, sustainable, and create good local jobs.
Featured Video: Schumer VOWS to pass both infrastructure packages before August recess
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned on Tuesday that action must be taken soon to avert a debt limit crisis, saying in a floor speech, “it’s not too late, but it’s getting dangerously close,” as a key deadline looms on October 18.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned lawmakers that the federal government will likely run out of cash by October 18 unless Congress raises the debt ceiling. But Congress might not even have that long.
That’s because October 18 is not a set-in-stone deadline. It’s more of a best guess estimate of when the money will run out, which makes it far harder to know exactly when Congress would need to act to avert potential financial catastrophe — and increases the odds that lawmakers could accidentally trigger a default by not acting soon enough.
Democrats and Republicans remain at an impasse over how to resolve the issue. Republicans insist that Democrats, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House, should act alone using a process known as budget reconciliation, which can pass on the current Democratic majority alone. Democratic leaders argue that raising the debt limit is a shared bipartisan responsibility and have so far described the use of reconciliation as a non-starter, noting that it would be an unwieldy and time-consuming path to go down and warning that the risks are too high to do so.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Monday to hold the line and deliver sweeping climate change action in Democrats’ party-line social spending bill — though he offered no concrete plans for winning over centrists who’ve expressed reservations.
Flanked by a half-dozen climate hawks during a sweltering afternoon press conference, Schumer said his caucus was doing “everything” it could to meet or exceed President Joe Biden’s goal of curbing U.S. emissions 50 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels.
“The bottom line for all of us is: We can’t let this moment pass us by,” Schumer said at the event, hosted by the environmental groups League of Conservation Voters and Climate Power. “The Senate will act in a way that’s commensurate with the magnitude of the climate crisis.”
U.S. Senator Charles Ellis “Chuck” Schumer has dedicated his career to being a tireless fighter for New York. He visits all 62 counties every year and has delivered countless large and small victories across the state, including delivering $20 billion to rebuild after the 9-11 terror attacks and passing a $63 billion relief package to help New York recover from Superstorm Sandy. From massive snowstorms in Western New York to numerous floods across Upstate, Sen. Schumer has been there to deliver aid and support to New Yorkers in their time of need.
From authoring a permanent tax credit to offset the rising costs of college tuition, protecting Social Security and Medicare to encouraging job-creating infrastructure projects, Senator Schumer has made it a hallmark of his career to protect the middle class and those working to reach it – including finding common sense solutions to national issues.
Chuck was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where his dad owned a small exterminating business and his mom was a housewife. He attended public school and graduated from James Madison High School before heading to Harvard University, and then Harvard Law School. Chuck has two daughters, Jessica and Alison, and he still resides in Brooklyn with his wife, Iris Weinshall.
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1974, Chuck was elected to the New York State Assembly, where he soon made his mark with his trademark vigor and relentless advocacy. In 1980, at 29, Chuck was elected as a congressman from the 9th Congressional District.
Chuck represented the 9th CD in Brooklyn and Queens for eighteen years, where he established his reputation as a consumer advocate and a pioneer in the fight against crime during the days of sky-high crime and murder rates that plagued communities throughout America. He was the leading sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, which combats domestic violence and sexual assault, and the Brady Bill, which instituted mandatory background checks for handgun purchases. He championed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which organized data on crimes of bigotry and allowed federal authorities to prosecute these crimes. He also sponsored legislation that required banks and credit card companies to provide greater disclosure to consumers.
In 1998, Chuck was elected to the U.S. Senate; he became New York’s senior senator when Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan retired in 2000. Chuck kicked off his first Senate term by announcing he would visit each of New York’s 62 counties every year, a tradition he continues today to keep in touch with voters from every corner of the state.
After New Yorkers re-elected him in 2004, Chuck secured two powerful posts: a seat on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the nation’s tax, trade, social security and healthcare legislation, and the Chairmanship of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Chuck successfully led the DSCC for two consecutive cycles and greatly expanded the number of seats in his conference.
Following the elections of 2006, then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appointed Chuck to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic Conference, the number three position on the Democratic Leadership team. In 2016, Chuck was once again re-elected by the people of New York and at the same time, his colleagues elected him to serve as Leader of the Democratic Caucus, the first time a New York Senator has held the position.
Schumer was born in Midwood, Brooklyn, the son of Selma (née Rosen) and Abraham Schumer.[7] His father ran an exterminating business, and his mother was a homemaker.[8][9] He and his family are Jewish,[10] and he is a second cousin, once removed, of comedian Amy Schumer.[11][12][13] His ancestors originated from the town of Chortkiv, Galicia, in what is now western Ukraine.[14]
In 1980, 16th district CongresswomanElizabeth Holtzman won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat of RepublicanJacob Javits. Schumer ran for Holtzman’s vacated House seat and won.[18] He was reelected eight times from the Brooklyn and Queens-based district, which changed numbers twice in his tenure (it was numbered the 16th from 1981 to 1983, the 10th from 1983 to 1993, and the 9th from 1993). In 1982, as a result of redistricting, Schumer faced a potential matchup with Solarz, but the matchup did not materialize.[18][22] In preparation, Schumer “set about making friends on Wall Street, tapping the city’s top law firms and securities houses for campaign donations. ‘I told them I looked like I had a very difficult reapportionment fight. If I were to stand a chance of being re-elected, I needed some help,’ he would later tell the Associated Press.”[22]
In 2004, Schumer was reelected with 71% of the vote, defeating the Republican nominee, AssemblymanHoward Mills of Middletown, and conservative Marilyn F. O’Grady. Many New York Republicans were dismayed by the selection of Mills over the conservative Michael Benjamin, who held significant advantages over Mills in both fundraising and organization.[27] Benjamin publicly accused GOP chairman Sandy Treadwell and governor George Pataki of trying to muscle him out of the Senate race and undermine the democratic process.[27] Schumer defeated Mills by 2.8 million votes.[28] He won every county in the state except Hamilton County, in the Adirondacks, the least populous and most Republican county.[28] Mills conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, before returns had come in.[28]
An April 2009 SurveyUSA poll placed Schumer’s approval rating at 62%, with 31% disapproving.[29]
After the 2016 presidential election, Schumer opined that the Democratic Party lost due to not having “a strong, bold economic message” and called on Democrats to push for reforms in the affordability of college and trade laws.[32]
Schumer with his fellow congressional leaders in January 2020
In 2006, DSCC staffers obtained a copy of Maryland’s 2006 Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele‘s credit report. A staff researcher used Steele’s social security number to obtain his credit report from TransUnion. The report was paid for with the DSCC credit card issued to the researcher’s supervisor. After an internal investigation, the Maryland Democratic Party determined the credit report was obtained illegally and reported the incident to the U.S. Attorney.[33] The staffer resigned and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of computer fraud and was sentenced to 150 hours of community service.[34] The supervisor resigned from the DSCC.[35]
Under Schumer, the Democratic Party gained six seats in the Senate in the 2006 elections, defeating incumbents in each of those races and regaining Senate control for the first time since 2002. Of the closely contested races in the Senate in 2006, the Democratic Party lost only Tennessee. The incoming Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, persuaded Schumer to serve another term as DSCC chair.
In 2009, for the 111th Congress, Schumer was succeeded as DSCC chair by Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
Schumer and Hillary Clinton at Erie Canal Harbor opening ceremony
Schumer and President Barack Obama in October 2013
Schumer’s propensity for publicity is the subject of a running joke among many commentators. He has been called an “incorrigible publicity hound”.[38]Bob Dole once quipped that “the most dangerous place in Washington is between Charles Schumer and a television camera”;[39]Barack Obama joked that he brought the press to a banquet as his “loved ones”.[40][41][42][43] Schumer often schedules media appearances on Sundays. Some have cited his use of media as a successful way to raise a politician’s profile nationally and among his constituents.[44] Schumer has appeared on The Daily Show seven times.[45]
In Washington, Schumer has been a lead consensus-builder on the difficult issues of health care, immigration, and financial regulation.[46]
Schumer attended an anti-Trump march in New York City on January 21, 2017.
Schumer prides himself on visiting each of New York’s 62 counties every year and has done so in each of the years he has served in the Senate, the only New York senator to have done so.[52] He has a reputation for focusing on local issues important to average New Yorkers not normally associated with United States senators, ranging from tourism to local taxes to job creation.[53][54][55][56] When it was revealed that Adidas planned to end its contract for the manufacture of NBA jerseys with American Classic Outfitters, an upstate New York apparel company, and outsource production overseas, Schumer blasted the company, citing the risk to 100 workers at the plant.[57]
When it was revealed that Canon Inc. was considering relocating from its corporate headquarters in Long Island because of a dispute over road infrastructure funding, Schumer stepped in to advocate that New York state redirect federal stimulus dollars to make the road improvements and keep the company and its jobs on Long Island.[58] Along with his House and Senate colleagues, Schumer successfully worked to kill a Bush-era privatization plan for custodial and utility workers at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The plan would have called for turning over custodial and utility work to a Georgia company.[59]
In November 2017, Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced $1,908,486 in funding for Head Start and Early Head Start programs at the Community Action Organization of Erie County, Schumer saying the federal funding would yield “real results to young students in Western New York by providing them with the resources they need to succeed both in and out of the classroom”.[60]
In January 2018, Schumer requested that the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs complete final acquisitions for two 60-acre and 77-acre parcels in Pembroke, New York, and initiate construction of the New Western New York National Veterans Cemetery, saying the completion of the cemetery would ensure “Western New York’s military veterans will have the proper burial, at a site close to the homes, families, and the very communities they dedicated their lives to defend and serve.”[61]
Drugs
In May 2001, Schumer and Senator John McCain introduced legislation intended to make it more difficult for makers of brand-name drugs to keep cheaper generic drugs off the market.[62] A coalition of consumer groups supported the legislation and Schumer told reporters that its enactment would reduce prescription drug costs by over 60% per prescription in addition to saving consumers $71billion over the next decade.[63]
In October 2001, during a press conference, Schumer stated his desire that generic ciprofloxacin be available for government use. At that time Bayer held exclusive patent rights for its commercial product, Cipro. Schumer also said he believed the federal government had the authority to order the immediate production of generic ciproflaxin to expand the government stockpile of the drug.[64]
In July 2002, the Senate passed a bill sponsored by Schumer and McCain that could lower the costs of generic drugs more rapidly available to U.S. consumers and thereby lead to savings of billions of dollars in drug costs.[65] The legislation also attempted to prevent frivolous lawsuits by brand-name drug manufacturers claiming generic drugs infringed their patents.[66] An identical bill was introduced in the House but did not pass.[67]
FBI
In November 2001, Schumer joined fellow New York Senator Hillary Clinton to call for legislation encouraging the Federal Bureau of Investigation to share information on terrorism with local and state police by removing legal barriers to such cooperation, citing reports by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani that federal authorities did not tell city police what they were aware of. Schumer joined Patrick Leahy to report that the Justice Department supported the legislation.[68]
In October 2016, after FBI director James Comey announced the reopening of an investigation into whether Hillary Clinton, then the Democratic presidential nominee, mishandled classified emails during her tenure at the State Department, Schumer said that he had lost confidence in Comey.[69] In May 2017, after President Donald Trump fired Comey, Schumer told reporters that they were aware the FBI had been investigating whether the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia and pondered whether the investigation was “getting too close to home for the president”.[70] In a Senate floor speech, Schumer called for a “impartial and independent” investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, announcing that the Democrats had agreed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein not be able to appoint a special prosecutor for an investigation into Russia’s meddling; that Comey meet with the Senate; and that Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions meet separately with senators.[71]
In January 2018, Schumer said that since Mueller’s investigation began, the United States “has had to endure conspiracy after conspiracy from the right wing, Republican congressmen, senators and of course the right-wing press, which acts in total cahoots” in regards to their views on the FBI, and that the Republicans’ effort to discredit Mueller “has now devolved into delusional, self-serving paranoia”.[72] In May, after the White House invited two Republicans and no Democrats to a briefing by Department of Justice officials on an FBI informant who made contact with the Trump campaign,[73] Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI director Christopher A. Wray calling for “a bipartisan Gang of Eight briefing that involves congressional leadership from both chambers”.[74]
In September 2005, after President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts for Chief Justice of the United States, Schumer praised Roberts’s brilliance, his being “a lawyer above all”, and his “judicial philosophy and modesty and stability” during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings for Roberts. But Schumer said Roberts’s “compassion and humanity” was questionable, and objected to the Bush administration’s refusal to show documents Roberts wrote during his tenure as deputy solicitor general and to Roberts’s refusal to answer many questions the committee asked him.[75] In June 2018, Schumer said that Roberts was demeaning the Supreme Court as it became more political, citing the court ruling in favor of anti-abortion clinics in California. Schumer said the court had “affirmed a plainly discriminatory travel ban, unleashed a flood of dark unlimited money in our politics and has scrapped a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act” and thereby aligned itself with goals of what he called “the hard right”.[76]
In October 2005, Schumer stated that Bush Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers “would not get a majority either in the Judiciary Committee or the floor” and that her confirmation hearings would cause her to gather either support or opposition in a way that had not been seen by any other nominee in recent memory.[77]
In May 2009, he told reporters that the confirmation process for Obama Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would be “more of a test of the Republican Party than it is of Judge Sotomayor”, calling Sotomayor a “mainstream justice” whom Republicans had no reason to oppose.[78]
In March 2016, after Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace the deceased Antonin Scalia, Schumer called for Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley to hold hearings “so America can make its own judgment as to whether Merrick Garland belongs on the court”.[79] In July 2018, it was reported that Schumer had advocated that Trump nominate Garland as a way to attract bipartisan support, as opposed to nominating someone opposed to the Affordable Care Act and Roe v. Wade who would be more controversial.[80] In November 2016, Schumer said the Democrats would “go at” President-elect Trump if he did not nominate Supreme Court justices who were mainstream and that the Republicans did not have “clean hands” for having blocked the Garland nomination for months.[81]
In March 2017, at the end of Senate hearings for Trump Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Schumer said he would vote against confirmation and called on Democrats to join him in blocking an up-or-down vote on Gorsuch. In his floor speech, Schumer said, “If this nominee cannot earn 60 votes—a bar met by each of President Obama’s nominees and George Bush’s last two nominees—the answer isn’t to change the rules. It’s to change the nominee.”[82] The Democrats conducted the filibuster, but Republicans broke it using the “nuclear option“, and Gorsuch was confirmed the next day.[83]
In July 2018, after Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to replace the retiring Anthony Kennedy, Schumer said Kavanaugh should be asked direct questions about the precedent set by Roe v. Wade and other cases. Schumer noted Kavanaugh’s expressed opinion on the possible incorrect decision in United States v. Nixon and that this could mean he would not hold Trump accountable as a justice.[84]
On August 21, Schumer said he was requesting that documents from Kavanaugh’s White House tenure be shared with the Senate, arguing that “withholding documents from the Senate and the American people under the bogus label of committee confidential is a dark development for the Senate.”[85] After meeting with Kavanaugh, Schumer said he had asked him whether he believed Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood were properly decided and that Kavanaugh had not responded and the lack of an answer “should send shivers down the spine of any American who believes in reproductive freedom for women”. He also said that Kavanaugh had a special obligation to make his views clear due to his unique position as the only person nominated to the Supreme Court by a president who said, “I will only nominate someone who overturns Roe v Wade.”[86] Schumer subsequently called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen plead guilty to charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations, calling the plea “a game changer”.[87]
At a March 2020 pro-choice rally outside the Supreme Court, Schumer said, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Roberts subsequently issued a statement calling Schumer’s comments “threatening”, “inappropriate” and “dangerous”.[88] Senator Josh Hawley called for Schumer to be censured.[89]
Net neutrality
In November 2017, Schumer said, “Just as our free highway system helped build jobs in America in the 20th century, net neutrality will help build jobs in the 21st century. To take a step back hurts our economy, our job growth and middle-class and working people. It is a disaster.”[90] In December, after the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality rules, Schumer said the internet could start resembling “a toll road, with the highest bidders cruising along private ‘fast lanes’ while the rest of us inch along a single, traffic-choked public lane; and we could be forced to purchase internet packages much like cable packages, paying more for popular sites”, and that the resolution he was introducing would undo the effects of the vote.[91]
In January 2018, Schumer announced that all 49 members of the Democratic caucus supported a resolution overturning the FCC vote on net neutrality and said congressional Republicans “have the opportunity to right the administration’s wrong and show the American people whose side they’re on: big ISPs’ and major corporations’ or consumers’, entrepreneurs’, and small business owners’.”[92] In May, the Senate adopted a measure to revive Obama-era internet regulations enforcing equal treatment for all web traffic. Schumer called the vote “our best chance to make sure the internet stays accessible and affordable to all Americans”.[93] In June, in response to the Republican-controlled House not taking up the Senate resolution restoring net neutrality rules, Schumer said, “House Republican leaders gave a green light to the big ISPs to charge middle-class Americans, small business owners, schools, rural Americans, and communities of color more to use the internet.”[94]
In 2002, Schumer authored a provision to an industry-sponsored bill intended to make it harder for people to erase their debts by filing for bankruptcy. Anti-abortion activists opposed the measure, claiming it restricted their ability to use bankruptcy courts to write off court fines. After the bill appeared to die in May, J. Dennis Hastert spokesman John Feehery opined, “Schumer really was pretty obnoxious about how this provision was going to hurt people who were pro-life and that really got some of our folks ginned up.” In response, Schumer said the provision was a compromise with Henry Hyde and other colleagues and that it was opposed by people who did not properly read the law.[100]
After Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retired in 2018, Schumer voiced concern about Trump’s choice of replacement, believing that they would try to overturn Roe v. Wade.[101]
Agriculture
In March 2019, Schumer was one of 38 senators to sign a letter to U.S. Secretary of AgricultureSonny Perdue warning that dairy farmers “have continued to face market instability and are struggling to survive the fourth year of sustained low prices” and urging his department to “strongly encourage these farmers to consider the Dairy Margin Coverage program”.[102]
Bush administration judicial nominations
In January 2004, after President Bush renominated Charles Pickering to the federal appeals court along with 30 other nominees who had failed to win confirmation under the previous Democratic-controlled Senate, Schumer stated his intent to prevent Pickering’s confirmation and said the US could do better.[103]
In 2007, after Bush nominated former federal judge Michael Mukasey to become attorney general of the United States (replacing Gonzales, who had resigned), Schumer expressed support for Mukasey. Despite appearing troubled by Mukasey’s refusal to declare in public that waterboarding was illegal torture, Schumer announced on November 2 that he would vote to confirm Mukasey.[104] He said that Mukasey had assured him in a private meeting that he would enforce any law declaring waterboarding illegal, and that Mukasey had told him Bush would have “no legal authority” to ignore such a law.[105] The votes of Schumer and Dianne Feinstein to recommend Mukasey for confirmation allowed the confirmation to move on to the full Senate.
Clinton impeachment
Schumer voted on the impeachment charges of President Bill Clinton in both houses of Congress. Schumer was a member of the House of Representatives (and Judiciary Committee member) during a December 1998 lame-duck session of Congress, voting “no” on all counts in committee and on the floor of the House. In January 1999, Schumer, as a newly elected member of the Senate, also voted “not guilty” on the two impeachment charges.[106]
Consumer issues
Schumer has given legislative attention to consumer issues. He passed legislation that required uniform disclosure information on the back of credit card applications, notifying prospective cardholders of annual fees and interest rates. This standardized information is now known as the “Schumer box“. Schumer has also aggressively pushed to end the practice whereby customers can be charged two ATM fees, one by their own bank and one by the bank that owns the ATM, if the ATM is outside their bank’s network.[107]
With Representative Nita Lowey, Schumer has been working to ban the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), often found in baby bottles and plastic children’s food containers.[108] The Canadian government has already banned BPA in baby bottles and children’s products.[109] Schumer is also seeking a ban on the use of cadmium, a carcinogen known to impair brain development in children, in toys and children’s jewelry.[110] When companies began selling gloves, pills, inhalers, diuretics, shampoos and other products during the 2009 swine flu scare, Schumer urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to open an investigation. In the end, the FTC put ten companies on notice and identified a total of 140 scams.[111]
Schumer received an “A” grade on the 2008 Drum Major Institute‘s Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.[113]
In October 2013, Schumer announced his support for a proposal ending restrictions on shipping beer, wine, and spirits through the U.S. Postal Service, saying it would “help keep local post offices open by bringing in an estimated $225million in new revenues to the USPS” and broaden the availability of beers and wines to consumers.[114]
Death penalty
In 2013, Schumer said the death penalty would be “appropriate” in the case of the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the perpetrator of the Boston Marathon bombing. “The federal law allows the death penalty.… I wrote the law in 1994 when I was head of the crime subcommittee in the House. This is just the kind of case that it should be applied to.”[115][116]
Disaster relief
In 2014, Schumer was recognized for helping to achieve the award of $700,000 in compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for Gowanda, New York, as a result of the devastating flood there in 2009.[117][118] A flash flood devastated the village, causing two deaths. Four feet of flood waters swept through the village, and caused much damage.[117][118] Gowanda was declared both a state and federal disaster site.[117][118]
Of the anticipated disbursement of FEMA monies to Gowanda, Schumer said:
FEMA and the state were sitting on Gowanda’s money for way too long. It’s about time that they made the village of Gowanda whole for the damage done in this flood. I’ve been advocating for this for months and months and months; I’m glad everyone came together and finally did the right thing.[117][118]
Donald Trump
Schumer attended the congressional leadership meeting with Trump in the White House Situation Room on January 2, 2019.
In a November 2016 interview conducted in the weeks after Trump’s election to the presidency, Schumer said that he and Trump were not friends and had had “civil conversations a couple of times” when Trump had contacted him. Trump had said earlier that year that he believed he would get along with Schumer and that he was “close to Schumer in many ways”.[119] In December 2016, Schumer called on Trump cabinet nominees to release their tax returns and in doing so follow the precedent set by Steve Mnuchin and Tom Price.[120]
In February 2017, before Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress, Schumer predicted that the speech would be less memorable than ones delivered by Trump’s predecessors due to what he called “a yawning gap between what he says and what his administration actually does for working Americans”. Though acknowledging Trump’s populist campaigning style, Schumer said Trump “governs like a pro-corporate, pro-elite, hard-right ideologue”.[121]
In March 2017, Schumer released a statement calling on Trump to apologize for claiming the Obama administration had wiretapped him during his presidential campaign. He advocated that Trump stop tweeting to better focus on working on behalf of the United States and said Trump had “severely damaged his credibility” by promoting conspiracy theories.[122]
In June 2018, Schumer delivered a Senate floor speech decrying Representative Maxine Waters‘s call to harass members of the Trump administration as protest of the administration’s policies: “I strongly disagree with those who advocate harassing folks if they don’t agree with you. If you disagree with a politician, organize your fellow citizens to action and vote them out of office. But no one should call for the harassment of political opponents. That’s not right. That’s not American.”[123]
In August 2018, in response to Trump’s charge that American Jews who vote for Democrats are “disloyal”, Schumer tweeted, “When he [Trump] uses a trope that’s been used against the Jewish people for centuries with dire consequences, he is encouraging—wittingly or unwittingly—anti-Semites throughout the country and world.”[124]
Schumer was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Schumer and other members of Congress were removed from the Senate chambers. He and Mitch McConnell joined Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer in an undisclosed location. As the attack persisted, Schumer and Pelosi released a joint statement calling on Trump to demand the rioters leave the Capitol and its grounds immediately.[125] When the Senate reconvened after the Capitol was secure, Schumer gave remarks, calling it a day “that will live forever in infamy”.[126] Later that day, he blamed Trump for the attack, calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to remove Trump from office. He also said he would support impeachment.[127]
Election reform
In March 2002, as the Senate worked on a compromise to save an election reform bill that stalled due to Republicans’ believing it was not combative enough against voter fraud, Schumer and Senator Ron Wyden led a successful effort in protecting an amendment allowing first-time voters to be verified with only a signature.[128]
Equal pay
In April 2014, the United States Senate debated the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 2199; 113th Congress), a bill aimed at addressing the gender pay gap in the United States.[129] Republicans argued that the Democrats were attempting to use the votes on this bill and the issue of equal pay as political issues in the 2014 midterm elections.[129] Schumer backed the measure and told reporters, “pay equity, that’s women, that’s 53 percent of the vote”.[129]
Financial industry regulation
In 1987, then-Representative Schumer wrote a New York Times op-ed opposing repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, titled “Don’t Let Banks Become Casinos”.[130] In 1999, Schumer supported Congress’s repeal of Glass–Steagall, saying: “There are many reasons for this bill, but first and foremost is to ensure that U.S. financial firms remain competitive.”[131] Since 2010, the securities and investment industry has been the largest donor to Schumer’s senatorial campaigns.[132]
According to a December 14, 2008, New York Times article on Schumer’s role in the Wall Street meltdown, he embraced the industry’s free-market, deregulatory agenda more than any other Democrat in Congress, backing measures blamed for contributing to the financial crisis. A review of his record showed that he took steps to protect the industry from government oversight and tougher rules. Over the years, he helped save financial institutions billions of dollars in taxes or fees. The article claimed that Schumer succeeded in limiting efforts to reform and regulate credit-rating agencies the George W. Bush administration and the SEC had proposed.[133]
The Charles Schumer-Rob Portman Senate bill of 2015[134] proposed to tax the $2.2trillion multinational corporations are holding outside the country in tax-haven subsidiaries, on which 35% was already owed, as a one-time tax “at a rate significantly lower than the statutory corporate rate”.[135]
In his book released in March 2010, No One Would Listen, Bernie Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos passed along an unsourced claim that Schumer called the SEC for information about the Madoff investigation. Schumer denied this.[136]
In response to The American Prospect’s Day One Agenda,[137] Schumer announced a new stance on eliminating student debt. In November 2020, he said, “I have a proposal with Elizabeth Warren that the first $50,000 of debt be vanquished, and we believe that Joe Biden can do that with the pen as opposed to legislation”.[138]
Foreign policy
Schumer was involved with legislation to address the Darfur genocide. In 2009, he co-sponsored two bills calling for peace in Darfur. Both bills, S.455 and S.684, passed the Senate. He also voted for measures to help increase the efficiency of peacekeepers serving in Darfur.
In 2009, Schumer criticized Scotland’s release of convicted Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and called for the United States to impose economic sanctions on the United Kingdom if Megrahi’s release was tied to a massive oil deal between the United Kingdom and Libya.[139]
In April 2017, after the Shayrat missile strike, Schumer said a “pinpointed, limited action to punish and hopefully deter Assad from doing this again is appropriate” while warning against the United States becoming further involved in Syria.[140]
In July 2018, after Trump criticized Germany‘s decision to approve a new Russian-German gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea bypassing Poland and Ukraine, Schumer and House Minority Leader Pelosi released a joint statement condemning Trump’s comments as an embarrassment and his behavior as “another profoundly disturbing signal that the President is more loyal to President Putin than to our NATO allies”.[142]
We have been very critical of U.S. security assistance to Azerbaijan given the country’s human rights record and aggression in the region. Earlier this year, at Senator Menendez’s request, the Government Accountability Office agreed to conduct a review of security assistance to the country to ensure that it aligns with U.S. interests; this violence indicates that it does not.[144]
Afghanistan
In March 2006, the House Appropriations Committee voted to block an amendment allowing Dubai Ports World to operate some terminals at U.S. ports, an amendment that was inserted into the emergency supplemental funding bill for military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same day, Schumer introduced an amendment barring a company from operating in a U.S. port if the company was owned by a country that recognized the Taliban’s regime in Afghanistan, the amendment being touted as similar to the House measure. Senate majority leader Bill Frist subsequently asked for a quorum call that effectively gnarled proceedings, Schumer afterward opining that the Democrats had “bent over backwards to try and accommodate the Republican schedule” and that Frist’s move meant Republicans did not want a vote at all.[147]
In October 2009, Schumer said, “It cost us $6 trillion and 4,500 lives, approximately, to bring stability to Iraq. Just in terms of the loss of life and treasure, do we want to do the same exercise in Afghanistan?” He said the United States could potentially be able to keep itself safe without bringing stability to Afghanistan and advocated that American forces be scaled back in Afghanistan in favor of more reliance on unmanned drone attacks.[148]
In April 2017, Schumer called for caution in Afghanistan, noting the casualties in Iraq, and said the military would have to come to Congress if it wanted more American soldiers in Afghanistan.[149]
China
In 2006, NPR reported that Schumer and Senator Lindsey Graham were highly critical of the trade imbalance between the U.S. and China, and its alleged cause of Chinese currency intervention.[150] They have asked both the Bush and Obama administrations to find China “guilty of currency manipulation” under a 1988 law. Schumer and Graham have introduced legislation in three successive Congresses to impose tariffs on Chinese goods for the purpose of raising the value of the Chinese yuan.
In 2017, Schumer wrote to Trump advocating for a block on China that would prevent it from purchasing more American companies to increase pressure on Beijing to help rein in North Korea’s nuclear missile program.[151] In May 2018, after Trump signaled his willingness to ease sanctions on ZTE in a bid for a trade deal with Beijing, Schumer observed, “This seems to be an area where Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate are coming together and telling the president, you’ve got to be tough on China, you have to have your actions match your rhetoric.”[152]
Before the Trump administration took concrete measures against China in late March 2018, Schumer and other Democratic leaders pressed Trump to focus more on China. Schumer said, “China has stolen millions of jobs and trillions of dollars [but] administrations from both parties haven’t been strong enough to fight back.”[153][154][155]
Iran nuclear deal
On August 6, 2015, Schumer announced his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran.[156] He planned to tell the White House, then his Senate colleagues, and then the public, but the White House leaked the news during the Republican debate in what CBS News described as an “apparent attempt to limit coverage”.[157] Arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis derided Schumer’s decision, noting that Schumer was making factually incorrect claims about the amount of time in which the treaty would allow inspection of Iranian nuclear facilities.[158] In what The Guardian described as a “shot across Schumer’s bow”, White House Press SecretaryJosh Earnest said that fellow Democrats might remember Schumer’s decision when deciding whom to elect as their next majority leader.[159]
Iraq
Schumer was a supporter of the Iraq War Resolution but was very critical of President George W. Bush‘s strategy in the Iraq War; he suggested that a commission of ex-generals be appointed to review it.[160]
In April 2002, during a Senate speech, Schumer called the Bush administration’s Middle East policy “muddled, confused and inconsistent” and said the planned meeting between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Yasser Arafat would contradict Bush’s stated stand against terrorists and those harboring them.[161]Nat Hentoff of the Village Voice wrote in November 2006 that “the loquacious Schumer has been indifferent to the administration’s war on the Constitution and on our laws and treaties”, particularly on the issue of torture.[162]
In July 2006, Prime Minister of IraqNouri al-Maliki stated that Iraq was urging the international community “to take a quick and firm stance to stop this aggression against Lebanon, to stop the killing of innocent people and to stop the destruction of infrastructure”. In response, Schumer, Harry Reid, and Dick Durbin signed a letter to al-Maliki in which they charged him with failing to condemn the aggression of Hezbollah as well as Israel’s right to defend itself, arguing the oversight raised serious concern about whether Iraq under his rule could “play a constructive role in resolving the current crisis and bringing stability to the Middle East”.[163]
Schumer was the first senator to call for U.S. support for Kurdish independence after the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum, releasing a resolution calling for the U.S. government to change its policy to “support a political process that addresses the aspirations of the Kurds for an independent state”. He called upon Iraq to “engage in a dialogue and peacefully determine the best way to accommodate the well-deserved and legitimate aspirations of the Iraqi Kurds”.[164]
Schumer is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement-building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. He criticized Obama, saying: “past administrations—both Democrat and Republican—have protected Israel from the vagaries of this biased institution [the U.N.]. Unfortunately, by abstaining on United Nations Resolution 2334, this administration has not followed in that path.”[168]
In May 2017, Schumer co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, Senate Bill 720, which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment,[169] for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government. The bill would make it legal for U.S. states to refuse to do business with contractors that engage in boycotts against Israel.[170]
In May 2018, Schumer praised Trump for opening the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, saying, “I sponsored legislation to do this two decades ago, and I applaud President Trump for doing it.”[172][173] He had previously accused Trump of “indecisiveness” for his delays in implementing the move by waiving the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, as previous presidents had done.[174]
North Korea
In February 2017, Schumer said that North Korea had proved itself to be “an irresponsible nation in every way” and that China could be used to curtail North Korea as most of North Korea’s imports and exports go through China. He advocated that the United States tell China “they have to put the wood to North Korea in a much more serious way than they have done so far.”[175] In August, after Trump said North Korea would be “met with fire and fury like the world has never seen” in the event of continued threats against the United States, Schumer released a statement advocating that the United States be “firm and deliberate with North Korea, but reckless rhetoric is not a strategy to keep America safe.”[176]
In May 2018, Schumer called for Kim Jong-un to be removed from the commemorative coin memorializing the 2018 North Korea–United States summit, calling Kim a “brutal dictator” and offering the Peace House as a more appropriate alternative.[177] In June, Schumer was one of seven senior Democratic senators to sign a letter to Trump outlining the conditions of their caucus’s support for any deal resulting from the North Korea-US summit.[178] After Kim and Trump issued a joint statement, Schumer said the meeting between the two had given “a brutal and repressive dictatorship the international legitimacy it has long craved” and that the agreement lacked details on achieving a pathway to the Korean peninsula being denuclearized, how the United States would verify North Korea’s disarming, and an assurance of cessation for enrichment of plutonium and uranium from North Korea.[179] In a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer questioned what the United States had gained from the summit and added that the country had “won far stronger language on denuclearization” in previous agreements with North Korea. In response, Trump tweeted,
Thank you Chuck, but are you sure you got that right? No more nuclear testing or rockets flying all over the place, blew up launch sites. Hostages already back, hero remains coming home & much more![180]
Russia
In a June 3, 2008, Wall Street Journal op-ed, Schumer wrote that cooperative economic sanctions from the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China could topple Iran‘s theocratic government. In discussing the importance of Russia’s cooperation, Schumer wrote, “Mr. Putin is an old-fashioned nationalist who seeks to regain the power and greatness Russia had before the fall of the Soviet Union.” He added, “The anti-missile system strengthens the relationship between Eastern Europe and NATO, with real troops and equipment on the ground. It mocks Mr. Putin’s dream of eventually restoring Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe.”[181] On June 10, the East European Coalition sent Schumer a letter about his article, writing, “As a supporter of democracy for the nations of Eastern Europe, which suffered greatly under ‘Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe’, your suggestion that these nations be used as bargaining chips in order to appease Russia is troubling, inexplicable and unacceptable.”[182]
In August 2013, after Russia granted asylum to Edward Snowden, Schumer said Putin was behaving like a “schoolyard bully”, adding, “The relationship between the United States and Russia is more poisonous than any time since the Cold War because of all of this.”[183]
In December 2016, Schumer joined John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Jack Reed in a letter to Majority Leader McConnell urging the formation of a Senate select committee on cyber. Schumer said the panel would focus on Russian meddling and potential threats from other countries such as China and Iran.[184]
In December 2016, Schumer demanded a congressional inquiry into Russian meddling in U.S. affairs.[185] In January 2017, in response to those questioning the U.S. intelligence community over its assessments, he said, “Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you”.[186] Later that month, he introduced legislation to limit executive action on Russian sanctions.[187]
In a May 2017 Senate floor speech, Schumer called on the White House to release unedited transcripts of the meeting between Trump and Russian officials the previous week, saying the continued confidentiality would ensure “the American people will rightly doubt if their president can handle our nation’s most closely kept secrets.”[188] In July, Schumer disavowed claims that the Democratic Party considered Russia its top priority and named health care and economic stability for working-class families as its primary concerns. “Obviously Russia is in the news. Obviously we want Bob Mueller to be able to pursue and our committees to be able to pursue their investigations unimpeded.”[189]
Schumer spearheaded a non-binding resolution in July 2018 “warning President Trump not to let the Russian government question diplomats and other officials”. The resolution stated the United States “should refuse to make available any current or former diplomat, civil servant, political appointee, law enforcement official or member of the Armed Forces of the United States for questioning by the government of Vladimir Putin“. It passed 98–0.[190]
Gun laws
In 1994, then-Representative Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein authored the Assault Weapons Ban. Supporters of gun control legislation give Schumer much of the credit for passage of both the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.[191] The Assault Weapons Ban, which banned semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and handguns with certain features, expired in September 2004 despite attempts by Schumer to extend it. He was one of 16 senators to vote against the Vitter Amendment, which prohibited the confiscation of legally owned firearms during a disaster.[192]
While a target of gun rights organizations, Schumer has supported hunters, sponsoring legislation to provide millions in outdoor recreation grants to landowners who allow hunting and fishing on their private property. For these efforts, Field and Stream magazine honored Schumer in its “Hero Awards” in 2008.[193] He supports tax deductions for hunters who donate venison and other game to feeding programs.[194] In response to a question at a debate during his 2010 reelection campaign, Schumer denied having a handgun or a permit for one. He has produced a letter from the NYPD stating that neither he nor his wife, Iris Weinshall, has a handgun license from NYC. Schumer aide Brian Fallon said, “except for winning an NRA marksmanship award at age 14, the senator does not own a gun or have a license to carry one”.[195]
In February 2018, after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Schumer was one of four Democratic senators to sign a letter to Trump asserting that were he “to endorse legislation to require a background check on every gun purchase, without other poison pill provisions attached, we could finally move much closer towards the comprehensive system that you called for after the Stoneman Douglas attack” and that there was no justification for allowing people denied firearms by federally licensed dealers to “simply visit a gun show or go online to purchase the same gun that they were denied at the store”.[196]
In January 2019, Schumer was one of 40 senators to introduce the Background Check Expansion Act, which would require background checks for either the sale or transfer of all firearms including all unlicensed sellers. Exceptions to the bill’s background check requirement included transfers between members of law enforcement, loaning firearms for either hunting or sporting events on a temporary basis, providing firearms as gifts to members of one’s immediate family, firearms transferred as part of an inheritance, or giving a firearm to another person temporarily for immediate self-defense.[197]
Health care
In March 2004, Schumer, Jon Corzine, Ted Kennedy, and Frank Lautenberg signed a letter to President Bush urging him to instruct staff to avoid taking action against whistleblower Richard Foster after Foster spoke out on the subject of White House efforts intended to keep Congress unaware of alternative higher cost estimates for the new Medicare prescription drug program.[198]
In 2009, Schumer proposed that any new government-run health insurance programs follow all the standards applicable to private insurance. He did this to “address fears that a public program would drive private insurers from the market”. Schumer said he wanted “a level playing field for competition”.[201]
In May 2017, in response to an amendment by Fred Upton to the American Health Care Act, Schumer released a statement saying the amendment “leaves Americans with pre-existing conditions as vulnerable as they were before under this bill” and compared it to “administering cough medicine to someone with stage 4 cancer”.[202] After the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) showed the American Health Care Act would cause millions of Americans to lose health coverage, Schumer said, “Republicans in Washington and the president should read this report cover to cover, throw their bill in the trash can and begin working with Democrats on a real plan to lower costs for the American people.”[203] In June, Schumer sent McConnell a letter requesting that all senators meet to discuss the American Health Care Act, citing the need for both parties to “come together to find solutions to America’s challenges”.[204] Later that month, Schumer estimated the bill had a 50% chance of passing the Senate and added that Democrats were doing everything they could to fight the measure, calling the legislation “devastating for the middle class”.[205]
As a senator, Schumer has worked to secure homeland security funds for New York State and City and provide resources to its first responders. He delivered over $20 billion to support New York’s security and recovery efforts after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and worked to deliver $200 million in Homeland Security funds to protect New York City mass transit.[207][208][209]
In November 2001, Schumer announced hearings on George W. Bush’s decision to try terrorists in military tribunals amid Washington concerns that Bush would skip the American legal system in handling such cases. Schumer said the hearing’s two goals were to ascertain whether Bush had the power to form a tribunal apart from an attempt at interacting with Congress and whether a military tribunal was the most efficient instrument.[210]
In August 2004, after American officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to reporters, Schumer said he was troubled by the decision to reveal Khan’s identity, citing the fact that the public had learned little of Khan’s role in providing the information that led Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to announce a higher terror alert level.[211]
Schumer supported continuing to fully fund the FIRE Grant program[212] the Federal Emergency Management Agency administered. The program allows fire departments and first responders nationwide to apply for grant funding for major purchases that localities have difficulty providing, namely apparatus and emergency vehicles. When the Bush administration pushed a plan to reduce the program from $1 billion to just under $300 million, Schumer helped lead an effort with local firefighters to block the cuts.[213]
In 2006, Schumer led a bipartisan effort, with Republicans like Representative Peter T. King, to stop a deal the Bush administration approved to transfer control of six U.S. ports to a corporation owned by the government of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai Ports World (see Dubai Ports World controversy). The 9/11 Commission reported that, despite recent alliances with the U.S., the UAE had strong ties to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda before the 9/11 attacks. The measure in the House was H.R 4807, and in the Senate, S. 2333; these were introduced to require a 45-day review of this transfer of ownership. On March 9, 2006, Dubai Ports World withdrew its application to operate the ports.
In March 2018, Schumer said the bipartisan legislation sponsored by Bob Casey and Pat Toomey would assist the children of deceased first respondents afford college by increasing the availability of Pell grant funding.[214]
In August 2018, Schumer announced that the Senate had passed $1 million in FY2019 funding for the national firefighter cancer registry as an amendment to the upcoming FY2019 Health and Human Services minibus appropriations bill. He said firefighters needed “first-rate medical care and treatment” for the work they did and the registry would help “researchers track, treat, and eventually prevent firefighters being stricken by cancer”.[215]
In April 2012, Schumer introduced SB 1070, a bill that would kill Arizona’s anti-immigration law, and ones like it if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the states. He backed his position, saying: “States like Arizona and Alabama will no longer be able to get away with saying they are simply ‘helping the federal government’ to enforce the law when they are really writing their own laws and knowingly deploying untrained officers with a mission of arresting anyone and everyone who might fit the preconceived profile of an illegal immigrant.”[218]
In January 2018, Schumer stated that any agreement on the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals before its March expiration would have to be included in the spending bill.[219] Schumer offered Trump congressional approval of more than $20 billion for his border wall in exchange for protecting recipients of DACA. Trump declined the offer. A week later, Schumer announced that conversations on immigration and border security were resuming between the White House and himself.[220] In a March CNN op-ed, Schumer wrote that Trump had stood in the way of progress on “compromise proposals that both sides should be proud of” and charged Trump and the White House with using Dreamers as “bargaining chips to push forward their anti-immigrant agenda”. He called on Trump to change course and said Americans would be aware that he was behind the prevention of Congress from settling the matter.[221] In June, before a planned meeting between Trump and House Republicans for discussions on the compromise immigration bill, Schumer warned that House moderates would lose credibility if they succumbed to pressure and enacted “the hard right’s agenda”.[222]
IndyMac Bank controversy
On June 26, 2008, Schumer took the extraordinary step of publicly releasing letters he had written to regulators about IndyMac Bank, the country’s seventh-largest savings and loan association and ninth-largest originator of mortgage loans, which he considered a severely troubled institution. Schumer wrote that he was “concerned that IndyMac’s financial deterioration poses significant risks to both taxpayers and borrowers and that the regulatory community may not be prepared to take measures that would help prevent the collapse of IndyMac.” Many IndyMac depositors either panicked or, from another perspective, justifiably acted and withdrew funds in the 11 days before IndyMac failed.[223]
A Treasury Department’s Inspector General audit found that the primary causes of IndyMac’s failure were associated with its business strategy of originating and securitizing Alt-A loans on a large scale. When home prices declined in the latter half of 2007 and the secondary mortgage market collapsed, IndyMac was forced to hold $10.7 billion of loans it could not sell in the secondary market. IndyMac’s reduced liquidity was further exacerbated when account holders withdrew $1.55 billion in deposits in a “run” on the thrift after the public release of Schumer’s letter. While the run was a contributing factor in the timing of IndyMac’s demise, the underlying cause of the failure was the unsafe and unsound manner in which the thrift was operated.[224]
Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) director John Reich immediately blamed IndyMac’s failure on the letter’s release. Reich said Schumer gave the bank a “heart attack”, saying, “Would the institution have failed without the deposit run? We’ll never know the answer to that question.”[225] Reich and top deputies later resigned or were removed amid a Treasury Department audit and investigation revealing that Indymac had been allowed to backdate its financial reports.[226]
Schumer conceded his actions might have caused some depositors to withdraw their money prematurely, but said, “if OTS had done its job as regulator and not let IndyMac’s poor and loose lending practices continue, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Instead of pointing false fingers of blame, OTS should start doing its job to prevent future IndyMacs.” He added, “IndyMac was one of the most poorly run and reckless of all the banks … It was a spinoff from the old Countrywide, and like Countrywide, it did all kinds of profligate activities that it never should have. Both IndyMac and Countrywide helped cause the housing crisis we’re now in.”[227][228]
Despite IndyMac’s condition before the failure, the financial media sharply criticized Schumer. CNBC financial analyst Jerry Bowyer charged that he was responsible for the “second largest bank failure in US history”.[229] While opining that IndyMac’s failure was only a matter of time, banking consultant Bert Ely called Schumer’s actions “wrong and irresponsible”.[230]
On October 18, 2008, The Wall Street Journal published an article suggesting that an investment company’s interest in IndyMac might have prompted Schumer’s letter.[231] His reported close ties to the founders of OneWest Bank have long been of interest to many action groups. On December 22, 2008, The Washington Post reported that the OTS regional director in charge had been removed from his position for allowing IndyMac to falsify its financial reporting.[232][233] The same day, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh continued to blame Schumer and recast IndyMac’s July bankruptcy as an “October Surprise” planned by Democrats to help win the 2008 election.[234]
Marijuana
In April 2018, Schumer said that he would back efforts to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level.[235] On April 20, a day known as 4/20, he announced his sponsorship of legislation to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill would also provide funding for women and minority-owned businesses and for research into the public health effects of cannabis.[236] On June 27, 2018, Schumer formally introduced the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act.[237]
In March 2009, Schumer announced his support for same-sex marriage, noting that it “was time”.[242] He previously supported civil unions. At a private dinner with gay leaders on March 22, 2009, Schumer said he not only supported same-sex marriage, he also backed a full reversal of DOMA.[243] When the New York State Senate took up a bill to legalize gay marriage in December 2009, Schumer and other statewide officials aggressively lobbied wavering senators to support the legislation.[244]
After the March 2007 meltdown of the subprime mortgage industry, Schumer proposed a federal government bailout of subprime borrowers to save homeowners from losing their residences and to shore up communities that were seeing neighborhoods destabilized due to foreclosures and the resulting decreases in neighboring home values.[247] As part of a package of regulatory reforms that Schumer pushed in response to the subprime foreclosure crisis, he called for the creation of mortgage industry regulators to protect borrowers from deceptive lending practices and called for the Securities and Exchange Commission to move from Washington to New York so that it was in closer proximity to the industry it was charged with overseeing.[248]
Schumer’s top nine campaign contributors are all financial institutions that have contributed over $2.5 million.[249]
Taxes on high incomes
Schumer had been a staunch defender of low taxes on hedge fund and private equity managers in the mid-2000s, arguing that this was necessary to protect the industry. Then serving on both the Senate Banking and Finance Committees, Schumer was in a position to block attempts to tax their financial gains at the rate other taxpayers pay for income.[250] But in 2010, he suggested that a hedge-fund tax would be acceptable and not hurt the industry.[251]
In February 2012, Schumer at first said he disagreed with the Obama administration’s call to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year, calling for a million-dollar floor instead. According to Schumer, “in large parts of the country, that kind of income does not get you a big home or lots of vacations or anything else that is associated with wealth.”[252] He later stood by the assertion but also said that raising taxes on those making more than $250,000 was necessary to bring in enough revenue.[252]
Technology and the Internet
In June 2011, Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin sought a crackdown on Bitcoin, saying it facilitated illegal drug trade transactions. “The transactions leave no traditional [bank transfer] money trail for investigators to follow, and leave it hard to prove a package recipient knew in advance what was in a shipment,” which used the anonymizing network Tor.[253] One opinion website said the senators wanted “to disrupt [the] Silk Road drug website“.[254]
Schumer is a sponsor of S. 968, the controversial PROTECT IP Act, which would restrict access to websites judged to be infringing copyrights.[255] On January 18, 2012, the NY Tech Meetup and other cybertech organizations held a demonstration with 2,000 protesters in front of the offices of Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, who also supported the bill.[256][257] Some demonstrators complained that the bill had originated with wealthy campaign contributors who would reward legislators for passing the bill.[258]
In March 2012, Schumer and Senator Richard Blumenthal gained national attention after they called upon Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to investigate practices by employers to require Facebook passwords for employee applicants and workers.[259]
Facebook
Schumer has been described[by whom?] as an ally of Facebook amid debates around regulating Facebook or probing its involvement in various controversies, including Russian interference in the 2016 election.[260] In July 2018, Schumer confronted Senator Mark Warner, and urged him not to lose sight of the need for Facebook to tackle problems with right-wing disinformation and election interference, as well as consumer privacy and other issues.[260] As of 2018, one of Schumer’s daughters worked as a marketing manager at Facebook.[260]
On March 11, 2007, Schumer became the first lawmaker in either chamber to call for Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales to resign for firing eight United States Attorneys. In an interview on CBS News‘s Face the Nation, Schumer said that Gonzales “doesn’t accept or doesn’t understand that he is no longer just the president’s lawyer”.[264] When Gonzales’s chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, resigned on March 13, Schumer said during a press conference that Gonzales was “carrying out the political wishes of the president” and declared that Sampson would “not be the next Scooter Libby“, meaning that he did not accept that Sampson had sole responsibility for the controversy.[265]
Like other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee from both parties, Schumer was angered during Gonzales’s testimony on April 19, 2007; Gonzales answered many times that he didn’t know or couldn’t recall details about the controversy. When Schumer’s turn came to ask his last round of questions, he instead repeated his call for Gonzales to resign, saying that there was no point to further questioning since Gonzales had “answered ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I can’t recall’ to close to a hundred questions” about the firings (most press reports counted 71 instances) and didn’t seem to know about the inner workings of his department. Gonzales responded that the onus was on the committee to prove whether anything improper occurred. Schumer replied that Gonzales faced a higher standard, and that under this standard he had to give “a full, complete and convincing explanation” for why the eight attorneys were fired.[266]
Controversy and criticism
Palestinians
In 1994, Schumer joined the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Congress in a campaign to get the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Palestinian-American charity the Holy Land Foundation, which by the time it was shut down in 2001 was the country’s largest Muslim charity.[267]
In June 2010, while speaking at an Orthodox Union event in Washington D.C., Schumer made comments about Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip that were later criticized.[268] He pointed to statistics to show that the Palestinian citizens of the West Bank were experiencing “economic prosperity”, crediting this to their government’s cooperation with the Israeli government on combating terrorists.[269] He then criticized the Palestinian citizens of the Gaza Strip for voting for the Hamas militant organization, calling on Israel to “strangle them economically until they see that’s not the way to go”, while also stating that Israel should continue providing “humanitarian aid” to Palestinian civilians. He argued that the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is justified not only because it keeps weapons out of the Palestinian territory, but also because it shows Palestinians living there that “when there’s some moderation and cooperation, they can have an economic advancement.”[268][270] Schumer added, “The Palestinian people still don’t believe in a Jewish state, in a two-state solution. More do than before, but a majority still do not … They don’t believe in the Torah. They don’t believe in King David. So they don’t think it’s our land”.[269]
Immigration
While discussing an immigration bill on the Senate floor in 2010, Schumer likened Indian tech giant Infosys Technologies to a “chop shop“. When his statement set off a wave of outrage in India, he acknowledged his characterization was incorrect.[271][272] The remark was also called “outrageous” by U.S.-India Business Council head Ron Somers.[272]
Bicycle safety
Schumer is noted for his love of cycling in New York City, especially around his home in Brooklyn.[273] In 2011, he was reported to have joined a group of neighbors on his street in Park Slope, near Prospect Park. They attempted to remove a new “protected” bicycle path on their street,[274] which ran adjacent to the curb, with a protection buffer provided by parallel-parked cars next to the bike lane.[275] While Schumer has not taken a public position on the traffic-calming project, whose most prominent feature is a two-way protected bike path, his wife, Iris Weinshall, is a prominent advocate against the project, and the New York Post reported that Schumer has lobbied against the bike path behind the scenes.[276] In addition, a major Schumer campaign contributor[277] has fought a controversial pro bono legal battle against the project, drawing criticism.[278]
Statement about Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch
In March 2020, Schumer came under controversy for statements he made about Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, both of whom were nominated by Trump. At a rally outside the United States Capitol while the Supreme Court was hearing an abortion-related case, Schumer said that if Kavanaugh and Gorsuch voted against abortion rights, they would have “unleashed a whirlwind” and would “pay the price”. He then said, “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Republicans and Democrats, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts, condemned these comments as inciting violence. A spokesman for Schumer said the comments were in reference to the political price Senate Republicans would pay, and criticized Roberts for following a “right-wing” attack to misinterpret the comments.[279] Schumer later apologized for the comments.[280]
The Schumers have two children, Jessica and Alison, both graduates of their father’s alma mater, Harvard College. Jessica, served as chief of staff and general counsel of the Council of Economic Advisers from May 2013 to August 2015.[285] Alison is a marketing manager in Facebook‘s New York office.[286] In 2018, Jessica gave birth to a son, making Schumer a grandfather.[287]
^Zinoman, Jason (April 18, 2013). “Amy Schumer, Funny Girl”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2014. …Ms. Schumer, who said she is second cousin to Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York.
^Molyneaux, Libby (February 3, 2011). “Make Us Laugh, Funny Girl! Amy Schumer”. LA Weekly. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2012. He is not my uncle, he is my dad’s cousin, I don’t even think they are first cousins.
^Schumer, Charles (November 6, 2007). “A Vote for Justice”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^Layton, Lyndsey; Lee, Christopher (April 19, 2008). “Canada Bans BPA From Baby Bottles”. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
^Schumer, Charles E. (August 26, 1987). “Don’t Let Banks Become Casinos”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2022. p. A23. quote: “Citing the pressures of rigorous worldwide competition in financial services, large American banks are pleading for the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act, a law that keeps banks out of the more volatile and risky world of securities transactions. Their entreaties should be resisted…”
^Paletta, Damian; Enrich, David (July 12, 2008). “Crisis Deepens as Big Bank Fails”. The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
^Schumer, Charles E. (June 22, 2009). “Exploring New York By Bike”. The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^Seifman, David (February 6, 2011). “Not in Chuck’s back yard!”. New York Post. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2011.