CHICAGO — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated he is confident that Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats will win the 2024 election. He said he is considering changes to the 60-vote filibuster rule to pass several major bills that would expand voting rights nationwide.
Schumer outlined a path for Democrats to change Senate rules that require them to hold on to 50 of their 51 seats. The party expects to lose Sen. Joe Manchin’s seat in West Virginia but hopes to protect incumbent senators, including Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in addition to seeing Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., replace independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Manchin and Sinema, who are both retiring, stood in the way of Democrats seeking to change the filibuster, which requires a majority vote — or 50 senators plus the tie-breaking vice president — in 2022. But that dynamic could change next year.
“We got it to 48, but Sinema and Manchin voted no, of course; so we couldn’t change the rules. Well, they’re both gone,” Schumer told reporters here on Tuesday during the week of the Democratic convention. “Ruben Gallego is in favor, and we have 51. So even if we lose Manchin, we still have 50.”
Schumer is known for his twice-yearly bullish pre-election predictions, and he praised Harris as “a great candidate” and predicted a Democratic victory, which would require his incumbent senators to win in red-leaning states and purple battlegrounds. He added: “I’m not predicting this, but Donald Trump can lose by more than people think, which helps us in the Senate and the House.”
During a separate Politico event on Monday, Schumer specified that the two bills he would seek to pass under the rule change are the Freedom To Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He predicted that there will be “consensus in my group to try to do that” and called the two measures “very, very important.”
Schumer said Tuesday that Democrats will also discuss possible rule changes to enshrine abortion rights in federal law, a party priority after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which also faces Republican opposition and offers no path to 60 votes in the Senate.
“I have to discuss that with my group,” Schumer said. “This is one of the issues that we should discuss and develop.” He noted that Democrats had only about 35 votes for the two election law changes in early 2022, before that number jumped to 48.
“We want to protect freedom of choice. We have to figure out how to do that,” Schumer continued.
Schumer also discussed plans to push key legislation through the 50-vote budget process next year, including investments in housing, clean energy, an expanded child tax credit and tax increases on high-income earners.
“In terms of reconciliation, we believe we need to do things on housing,” Schumer said. “It’s not just in urban areas like New York City, it’s in rural areas. They’re desperate for housing.” He said Harris’ idea for a $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers is “a great proposal.” He said he would try to build on clean energy plans to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and “get to zero by 2050.” And he said the child benefit should be “deeper and longer.”
Schumer outlined a series of tax proposals that could be fast-tracked through the budget process, saying he expects to raise the corporate tax rate and increase the top individual tax rate to 39%, and vowing that “making the wealthy pay their fair share” will be a priority. He said eliminating taxes on tips, an idea that former President Donald Trump and Harris have both endorsed, “is something I would consider very seriously.”
And the Senate Democratic leader backed Harris’ pledge not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000.
One of the key components of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, set to expire in 2025, is a $10,000 cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes. Schumer, a vocal supporter of the “SALT” deduction, has said the cap will expire and reset to an unlimited amount as long as he controls the Senate.
“As long as I’m leader, the cap will go away when the state and local government deductibility expires,” Schumer told reporters.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
