Schumer lays out Senate to-do list with Mayorkas impeachment on deck

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday laid out a lengthy to-do list for the months ahead in the upper chamber, including a number of bipartisan items, must-pass bills and executive and judicial branch nominations.

Schumer wrote in a letter to his Democratic colleagues that the chamber has a “busy agenda” coming up. But first, the chamber is expected to deal with the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“Please be advised that all Senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the day after the articles are presented, and Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray will preside,” he said. “I remind Senators that your presence next week is essential.”

The Democratic leader did not say how he plans to deal with a potential trial, but lawmakers have expected for months that Schumer will dispense with the articles in some fashion. He could either vote to dismiss them outright on the floor or refer them to a special committee and essentially bury them until after the election, sparing his members up in November from taking a tough vote that could be used against them on the campaign trail.

“Leader Schumer has not been specific in how he intends to execute on that,” Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) told reporters on Capitol Hill earlier this week. “But let’s be clear — this was an impeachment in search of a problem, and what I hope is that we’re able to dismiss it quickly and get onto the business of the American people.”

“Whatever way is the way for us to execute our obligations and move forward as quickly as possible,” she added when asked if it matters how Schumer tries to sidestep the articles.

Also on the immediate to-do list are renewals of section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act later this month and the extension of the Federal Aviation Administration’s authority in May. Schumer also noted that he expects bipartisan work to commence in short order on a supplemental to help rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed, shutting down much of the Port of Baltimore as a result.

Schumer also highlighted the ongoing push for more aid to Ukraine to help its war efforts against Russia and called on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) once again to put the upper chamber’s national security supplemental on the House floor in the coming weeks. Johnson has been looking at different avenues to get a bill passed, including turning that funding into a loan in order to mollify some conservatives. Opening up that package, though, could be problematic as it could lead to Democrats to peel away over the situation in Gaza. 

Also on the New York Democrat’s wish list for the coming months are bipartisan bills related to online safety for kids, an expansion of the Child Tax Credit, potentially banning TikTok, and rail safety.

“There are many important, bipartisan issues this Congress could address this year, and I hope our Senate Republican colleagues don’t allow the ultra-right wing of their party to derail progress on these bipartisan bills,” he wrote.

All of this work will buttress up against the November election and attempts to protect Democratic incumbents running in red and purple states. Seats held by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are the top targets of Republicans heading into the fall.