Chuck Schumer Brokers Senate Democratic Peace Deal With Bernie Sanders Over Drug Bill
If it’s true that “blessed be the peacemakers,” Chuck Schumer deserves a halo.
Schumer, the chamber’s minority leader, is spending some time smoothing things over after Bernie Sanders blasted 13 of his fellow Democrats for voting against a drug reimportation bill that could bring in cheaper medicines from Canada.
“You cannot do that if you’re in the leadership,” one unnamed Senate Dem fumed to The Hill, referring to the meeting and comments by Sanders, who is chair of outreach for the Senate Democrats. After the Sanders bill was defeated – despite the backing of a dozen GOP senators — Sanders told USA Today that Democratic peers who voted against the bill, including New Jersey’s Cory Booker and Virginia’s Mark Warner didn’t “stand up to powerful special interests like the pharmaceutical industry.”
Schumer responded to the contretemps by calling in them and Sanders for a makeup session, where Sanders was said to have apologized for any political fallout, but stood by his comments. According to The Hill, the gathering was meant as a gentle signal to Sanders that he might play nicer with his colleagues if he wants to be a player.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30