Schumer, who was a minority leader for four years, will also be the first leader of the Jewish majority. And Ossoff and Warnock are the first Jewish and black senators, respectively, to represent Georgia, which has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in 20 years. Meanwhile, Padilla, who will replace Harris in the Senate, is the first Latin to represent California in the upper house.
Ossoff was accompanied by Senator Cory Booker (DN.J.), Padilla by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) And Warnock by Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
Wednesday marked the first time in six years that Democrats won a majority in the Senate and consolidated Washington’s full Democratic control for the first time in a decade.
While a Democratic Senate fully guarantees that President Joe Biden will see his cabinet nominees confirmed, the 50-50 division of the chamber, with Harris as the tiebreaker, leaves little room for Democrats’ internal dissent. The small majority also reduces the chances that Democrats will rule out legislative obstruction, meaning that at least 10 Republicans will need to work with Democrats in most legislations. Democrats, however, can use budgetary reconciliation procedures to approve some of their legislative priorities.
With an impeachment trial hanging over the Senate, Democrats pledge to hold former President Donald Trump responsible for the January 6 uprising and move forward with another coronavirus aid package, just like Biden’s nominees. But that will require the cooperation of Republicans, many of whom are resistant to impeachment, as well as Biden’s agenda.
The uniform division of the Senate also means that Schumer and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Will need to finalize a power-sharing agreement. McConnell insists that the agreement include a commitment to protect legislative obstruction, which Democrats are expected to reject.
The power-sharing deal is likely to resemble the 2001 structure of former Senate leaders, Trent Lott and Tom Dashchle, who divided committee members and established that the White House control party set the Senate floor agenda. The leaders also did not finalize the parameters of the impeachment trial, which cannot begin until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sends the impeachment article to the Senate accusing Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 siege.
In addition to coronavirus relief, Schumer outlined a number of other priorities for Democrats in a letter to colleagues last week, including legislation related to immigration reform, climate change, health, criminal justice reform and the tax code.
In his speech, Schumer promised that the Senate “will do business differently” under his management.
“This Senate is going to legislate,” said Schumer. “It will be active, responsive, energetic and bold. And for my Republican colleagues, whenever and wherever we can, the Democratic majority will strive to make this important work bipartisan. The Senate works best when we work together.”