“When Republicans say, 'The first thing you do when you do deficit reduction is reduce rates,' it would be like Democrats saying, 'The first thing you do when you do deficit reduction is provide free Medicare at age 55.' We'd like to do that! But it won't bring the deficit down. That's for sure.”

American politician

Chuck Schumer is an American politician and Democratic Party senator from New York, serving in the U.S. Senate since 1999. Born in 1950, he has led the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017 and has held senior leadership roles in the chamber for much of his career. He became New York’s senior senator in 2001, after Daniel Patrick Moynihan retired, and in 2022 he won a fifth term. Schumer served as Senate majority leader from 2021 to 2025 and as minority leader in two periods, from 2017 to 2021 and again since 2025. He is the longest-serving U.S. senator in New York history and the dean of the state’s congressional delegation.