YOLO Chuck: Schumer's final fight

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is on the cusp of leading his party to midterm victory and reclaiming his title as Senate majority leader. Winning the majority isn't guaranteed. But this son of Brooklyn, who has been in public life for 52 years, is more than favored to win a secret ballot to remain Democratic leader. Why it matters: At age 75 (76 by the time the new Congress convenes in January), Charles Ellis Schumer, an old-school pol who visits all 62 of New York's counties every year, looks poised to do what very few people do in life — go out on top. Behind the scenes: For starters, Democratic senators aren't quietly maneuvering — or publicly positioning themselves — to take the top job, according to senior aides. You can't beat someone with no one. A handful of Democratic Senate candidates, including Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Troy Jackson in Maine, haven't committed to supporting Schumer for leader. But they likely don't have the votes to stage a coup. And Schumer's super PAC is spending heavily to get them across the line. That calculus could change if Republicans overperform expectations with a massive win, potentially triggering a serious leadership challenge. Otherwise, the job is Schumer's for the asking — and he's asking. "I am running for re-election for leader. Period," he said two weeks ago. The intrigue: The bigger question surrounding Schumer involves 2028 and whether he'd retire at the top of his game or risk an embarrassing primary loss to, perhaps, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was born in the Bronx and represents parts of the Bronx and Queens. If Schumer decided to retire, he could spend his final two years in leadership, freed from the political pressures that have defined his career. That would give Senate Republicans and President Trump an entirely new political animal to contend with: YOLO Chuck. Republican YOLO senators (with nothing left to lose, since You Only Live Once) have been playing hardball with President Trump. But it's unclear how a YOLO Chuck would behave as Senate majority leader. Schumer, first elected to Congress when Carter was president, has spent nearly 46 years plotting what's next. Not even his closest allies know what he'll be like if he's freed from the political pressures that have defined his leadership. Zoom out: Schumer finds himself in a position remarkably similar to that of the man he'd replace: Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Both are distrusted by their parties' most vocal activists. The insults hurled at them — weak, coward, sellout — are almost interchangeable. But most of the criticism comes from outside the chamber. Behind closed doors, their caucuses are expected to close ranks. What we're watching: If Schumer takes the majority, he'd have to weigh when to confront, and when to cooperate with, a president he says is synonymous with "costs, chaos and corruption." Schumer has known Trump for decades, and they have a "complicated" relationship. But he'd be facing him as the co-head of a coequal branch of government. Funding the government and passing the National Defense Authorization Act are must-do pieces of legislation. Schumer would have to navigate those politics with up to eight Democratic senators running for president. Between the lines: The Senate Democratic leader would also have to coordinate with a potential House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, who has struggled to maintain discipline within his ranks. In the minority, the two New York Democrats have clashed over how to confront Trump. They split over Schumer's decision to help Republicans avert a government shutdown in March 2025. Progressives were furious with Schumer. House Democrats held venting sessions. Tensions resurfaced this year when Schumer negotiated a short-term DHS funding deal that Jeffries refused to embrace. The bottom line: If Schumer announces early in the next Congress that he won't seek another term as leader in 2028, Washington could find itself in an unusual position — with a term-limited president negotiating with a Senate majority leader who has nothing left to lose politically.

Read it at Axios ↗

← Front page