Chuck Schumer Reelected Senate Democratic Leader For The Fifth Time

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WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday was unanimously reelected as the Senate Democratic leader for the fifth consecutive time.

“I am honored and humbled to be chosen by my colleagues to continue leading Senate Democrats during this crucial period for our country,” Schumer said in a statement. “Our caucus has led the way in passing historic legislation that has improved the lives of millions of Americans and we remain laser focused on addressing the most pressing challenges facing our country.”

Senate Democrats also unanimously voted to approve their new leadership team for the 119th Congress, which kicks off in January with Donald Trump heading back to the White House.

Democratic leaders will mostly be the same as they’ve been in this Congress, with Schumer at the top and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) keeping his No. 2 post as the Democratic whip. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) will keep their posts as vice chairs of the Democratic Caucus. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) will keep her title as the caucus’ secretary.

But there are a couple of changes.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) will move into the party’s No. 3 role as chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. This post is currently held by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), who is retiring. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) will also move up as the No. 4 leader, as chair of the party’s newly created Strategic Communications Committee.

Klobuchar and Booker were headed for a clash over who would be the party’s next No. 3 leader, so Schumer came up with the new role for Booker.

Others on the incoming leadership team are Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of outreach; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), vice chair of outreach; and Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), deputy secretaries of the conference.

Democrats lost the Senate majority in November, so they’ll head into the next Congress as the minority party and without Joe Biden in the White House. Schumer said Tuesday he’s ready to work with Republicans to get things done, when possible.

“As I have long said, our preference is to secure bipartisan solutions wherever possible and look for ways to collaborate with our Republican colleagues to help working families,” he said. “However, our Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values.”