He’s been beat up by the left over his centrist instincts and vilified by the right as a liberal obstructionist in dealmaker’s clothing. But somehow, Chuck Schumer’s high-wire act is working for him.

A year-and-a-half after taking the reins from Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate leader has maintained liberal senators' support as well as a healthier relationship with Mitch McConnell than Reid had. Schumer even occasionally receives handwritten notes from the president who calls him “Cryin’ Chuck.”


After Schumer went on the Senate floor this spring to declare that he preferred President Donald Trump’s trade policies to those of Democratic President Barack Obama, Trump sent a copy of a Washington Examiner article with a note attached. According to Schumer‘s very rough rendition, it read: “‘Thanks,’ blah blah blah, let’s work together on this.”

“We talk a lot. I called him on trade. You know, I agree with him on China. I’m trying to keep his resolve on China,” Schumer said in an interview this week. “So, I talk to him. When I disagree with him, I’m strong.”

Schumer’s relatively strong position was hardly a given. As Trump entered office, thousands of liberal activists descended on his Brooklyn apartment demanding total opposition, waving signs that read “Chuck’s a chicken“ and “Grow a spine, Chuck!” At the same time, he’s felt the ever-present pull of a 2018 midterm map that has a half-dozen Democratic incumbents at serious risk of losing, and needing to appeal to Trump voters.

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If there’s one criticism of Schumer within his caucus, it’s that he wants to be loved, not feared, by his members. Though the 67-year-old is learning how to say “no” more to his caucus, said one Democratic senator, “he’s not as iron-fisted, not as old-school, not as personally intimidating” as Reid was.

But that’s just not in keeping with Schumer’s quirky style. He has memorized every one of his 48 caucus members’ cell phone numbers, refusing to program them into his archaic flip-phone, and declares that “I genuinely love” them all. He shooed a photographer out of the room during a recent interview so he could slouch his shoulders without worry.

His long leash has allowed Senate Democrats up for reelection to tell voters with a straight face that they aren’t beholden to Schumer’s every whim.

“People — not just [progressives] — think I can snap my fingers and have every Democrat vote the way I vote. It’s not happening,” Schumer says of his soft touch. “The No. 1 thing a leader wants is members to enjoy their job, feel they’re productive, and be happy in it. And one of the best ways to do that is let them come to their own conclusions.”

One source of the tension between Schumer and the party’s liberal wing is that he views battling with Trump as only a part of his job. He responds to the president daily, but treads somewhat carefully because “[I] don’t just want a knee-jerk opposition to him on everything."

Schumer has picked his fights selectively. He watched as his moderate members helped confirm CIA Director Gina Haspel and roll back financial regulations, even as he personally voted “no.” When he did adopt a hard line, leading his caucus into a brief shutdown over immigration policy, it yielded nothing and he quickly relented.

At the same time, Schumer has essentially stymied Trump’s border wall — though he did seriously entertain an immigration deal that would have provided billions for it — and won significant spending increases for domestic programs. And he has managed to win over both wings of a party that reeled after Hillary Clinton’s loss and Democrats’ poor performance in Senate races.

“He puts his heart and soul into the job,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a member of Schumer’s leadership team, said in an interview. “And everyone in the caucus knows that, and appreciates how hard he’s working to try to hold our caucus together and move it forward in truly difficult times.”

“The best thing about Chuck for me is, he lets me be me. And vote the way I need for my state,” said North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who battled with Warren over the banking bill. Asked whether Schumer has ever twisted her arm, she replied: “Not once.”

Schumer also has rejuvenated his once-ailing friendship with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the party whip whom Schumer declined for months to endorse as his lieutenant after Reid announced his retirement. These days, Durbin said people shouldn’t be surprised to learn the onetime roommates are once again close.

“We’ve had good honest conversations about our relationship, and it’s never been better,” Durbin said.

Republicans take a far different view of Schumer. They are running a national campaign strategy aimed at elevating Schumer into a national bogeyman, aiming to yoke him to imperiled incumbents like they did with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California in 2010 and Reid in 2014.

Ask a Republican candidate what they think of a vulnerable Democrat, and they’re likely to tell you how often that Democrat voted with Schumer, slamming him for the Senate’s slow pace of confirming Trump nominees and party-line opposition to tax cuts.

“He’s a smart guy. But the basic strategic error that they’ve made is to oppose almost everything,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), one of Schumer’s workout buddies in the Senate gym.

And GOP senators gently mock Schumer for his rosy view of the Democrats’ electoral chances. Schumer began laying out his agenda as majority leader in the days before the 2016 election, McConnell recounted in a recent interview, even calling the GOP leader to express hopes they could keep working together. After the GOP held the Senate, McConnell called Schumer back and told him he hoped that offer still held.

But when asked about their relationship on a personal level, GOP senators generally struggle to criticize the chatty New Yorker.

"We’ve been able to work together on a lot of things. We’re able to be kind of candid with each other about the internal demands in his conference and mine,” McConnell said. “And I’ve enjoyed working with him.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Schumer is “overplaying his hand” on dragging out confirmations, “but having said that, I’ve worked with him on a bunch of issues. When he tells you he will do something, he will do it. I find him to be a very dedicated, honest man.”

Some of the loudest criticism Schumer has heard comes from beyond the Beltway. His disinterest in flipping votes against Haspel and the bank deregulation bill drew howls from the left, though he did quietly block a Coast Guard bill over concerns it would harm the environment.

While Schumer's liberal senators are full of praise for him, activists have taken to the streets to protest him in his home base of Brooklyn for two years running. When he folded in the fight over immigration that caused a brief government shutdown, some on the left dubbed it the #SchumerSellout.

The minority leader, however, insists he’s not worried about dampening enthusiasm among the base by letting Heitkamp and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) vote how they please.

“Our caucus is doing plenty of resistance against Trump. Plenty,” Schumer said. “And wherever I go, I get plaudits for the whole caucus in standing up to Trump, when it’s appropriate.”