WASHINGTON – Chuck Schumer is used to drinking from a firehose. But the incoming Senate majority leader has never taken on such a torrent of challenges, with the opening days of both the Biden administration and Democratic control of the Senate coming at the very moment an impeachment trial gets underway.A 38-year veteran of Congress who first came to the Senate during President Bill Clinton's impeachment, Schumer is a 70-year-old bundle of energy with one overriding mandate: Help Joe Biden become a successful president.
To do so, he’ll have to leverage the narrowest possible majority — a 50-50 Senate with the incoming vice president, Kamala Harris, delivering the tiebreaking vote.It's a tough assignment.