Schumer steers Senate Democrats towards 2024 goals to preserve majority

With dwindling legislative working weeks before November, Senate Democrats are shifting to more messaging bills as an election-year tactic to bolster vulnerable incumbents.

Legislation with little or no Republican buy-in that is all but certain to fail is likely to become increasingly popular with Senate Democrats, which includes a border security proposal that suffered its second loss this week and a contraception bill that will face similar doom next month.

Democratic leadership promises there are more such measures on the horizon to hit the floor, a strategy that they market as simply highlighting to voters their policy differences with Republicans.

“You’re going to have to wait with bated breath to determine what’s next,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the third-ranking Democrat, said with a laugh. “There will be other opportunities.”

Democrats face eight competitive Senate races, none of which they can afford to lose and hope to still keep the majority.

“These are not gimmicks. These are real issues that people in America care very deeply about,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, told the Washington Examiner. “Folks should vote and be on the record.”

The campaign-minded approach is turning away even those in the GOP who are most inclined to cut deals on major policy issues, presenting minimal opportunities for the Senate to muster bipartisan achievements before the elections. The chamber’s 60-vote threshold means that at least nine Republicans are required to achieve nearly every legislative task.

“Seems to me, the Democrats are getting deep into messaging amendments as opposed to serious legislation,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told the Washington Examiner.

The centrist Republican argued that if Democrats were genuine about legislating, they would allow a vote on a bipartisan bill she’s co-authored to restore national abortion rights by codifying Roe v. Wade into law, which also includes contraception protections.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said they will instead vote on legislation to codify federal protections for only contraception after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump teased he may support restrictions and as some states seek to limit access to abortion medication or birth control for some people.

Democrats facing competitive reelections welcome the border and contraception votes with open arms.

“Could it help that I’m fighting for my constituents to get their rights and freedoms back?” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), an incumbent facing a serious Republican challenger, told the Washington Examiner. “Absolutely.”

Trump later walked back his contraception comments, posting on social media that he’d “never, and will never advocate imposing restrictions on birth control or other contraceptives.” It failed to quell fierce backlash from Democrats, including from the Biden campaign.

“Now more than ever, contraception is a critical piece of protecting women’s reproductive freedoms, standing as nothing short of a vital lifeline for millions of American women across the country,” Schumer said.

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the GOP co-author of the border bill, accused Democrats of “fearmongering” over contraception.

“No one’s taking away your right to contraception,” he told the Washington Examiner. “That’s why this is political posturing during an election year.”

The border security bill started as a bipartisan agreement in February but suffered a swift death under the weight of GOP backlash, including from Trump. Democrats’ attempt to revive it last week was met with an even greater loss in a 43-50 vote, as six Democrats and independents bucked the party to vote with almost all Republicans against it.

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was the only Republican to support it. Lankford, after voting for it the first time, voted against it the second time.

“The American people have already made their mind up about who’s responsible for the mess of the border,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said. “No amount of political maneuvering is going to change that perception and that reality.”