Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is now perhaps the most powerful Democrat in the country, and he has taken over an outsized role leading Senate Democrats in opposition to President Donald Trump.
An ambitious, lifelong politician who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Brooklyn, Schumer has been at the center of many of the biggest debates over gun control, immigration reform, and law enforcement in the last thirty years.
He was elected to the New York State Assembly at age 23, to Congress at age 29, and rose through the ranks in the Senate. His candidate and ally, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, lost in November, and Schumer is under pressure to both rally his defeated party and deal with Trump.
“If Hillary won and I was majority leader, I’d have more fun, and I’d get more good things done, which is why I’m here,” Schumer said in his interview with TIME for this week’s cover story. “But with Trump as President and me as minority leader, that job is far more important.”
Charles “Chuck” Ellis Schumer (center), with his mother Selma and sister Fran, in Brooklyn, N.Y., 1960.Courtesy of Senator Schumer’s officeCharles Schumer Senior Year 1967,
James Madison High School, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
Schumer's undergrad graduation, with his father Abe, mother Selma, brother Robert and sister Fran, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., 1971.Courtesy of Senator Schumer’s officeAssemblyman Schumer as the chairman of the Assembly's Committee on Legislative Oversight and Investigation as he monitors the schedule of the buses, April 16, 1979. Arty Pomerantz—New York Post Archives/Getty ImagesRep. Charles E. Schumer at House Budget Committee mark up, 1985.Terry Ashe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesSchumer, stands behind Jim Brady, who was shot in the head during John Hinckley's assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, during a news conference outside the the U.S. Capitol supporting the assault weapons ban, March, 22, 1996.Scott J. Ferrell—CQ-Roll Call/Getty ImagesSenator-elect Charles Schumer (C) is surrounded by his wife Iris (2nd from R) and daughters Jessica (L) and Alison (R) after he defeated incumbent Republican Senator Alphonse D'Amato in the New York senatorial race in New York, Nov.3, 1998.Henny Ray Abrams—AFP/Getty ImagesSen. Schumer speaks as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mayor Giuliani and members of a congressional delegation look on during a visit to the scene of devastation where the World Trade Center's twin towers stood, New York, Sept. 20, 2001.Mike Albans—NY Daily News Archive/Getty ImagesSen. Schumer works on his blackberry from his house on Capitol Hill after a suspicious substance was discovered in a Senate office building, Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2004.Doug Mills—The New York Times/ReduxSenator-elect Jon Tester (D-MT) (L) speaks with Senator-elect Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) (2nd-L) as Democratic Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) (hands clasped) speaks with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) (3rd-L) and incoming freshmen Senators in Reid's office with (R-L) Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), Senator-elect Bob Casey (D-PA), and Bernard Sanders (D-VT), in Washington, D.C., Nov 13, 2006. Win McNamee—Getty ImagesSen. Charles Schumer talks with Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) during the full Senate Finance Committee markup of "The America's Health Future Act"in Washington, D.C., Sept. 29, 2009. Win McNamee—;Getty ImagesNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, right, and Sen. Schumer. exit the subway system after riding the train to City Hall in New York, April 9, 2015. De Blasio and Schumer took the trip as part of National Stand Up for Transportation Day, designed to call attention to the need for a long-term, sustainable and reliable federal transportation funding bill. Michael Appleton—The New York Times/ReduxComedian Amy Schumer (L) and her cousin Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speak at a press conference calling for tighter gun laws in an effort to stop mass shootings and gun violence in New York City, Aug. 3, 2015.Andrew Burton—Getty ImagesSen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) greets President Donald Trump on West Front of the U.S. Capitol on the day of the inauguration ceremony of Donald J. Trump, in Washington, D.C. Jan. 20, 2017. Joe Raedle—Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump shakes hands with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y, as he is joined by the Congressional leadership and his family while he formally signs his cabinet nominations into law, Jan. 20, 2017.J. Scott Applewhite—AP/PoolSchumer joins demonstrators marching up Fifth Avenue in New York during a women's march being held in solidarity with similar events taking place in Washington and around the nation, Jan. 21, 2017.Mary Altaffer—APSenate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y. departs the Senate chamber, as lawmakers gathered for a predawn vote to advance the nomination of Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos, Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2017.
J. Scott Applewhite—AP
