Senator Schumer: “I support getting big, bold change by whatever means we can get there”
Washington, DC — In a weekend interview with Medhi Hasan on MSNBC, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asserted that his priority is delivering “big, bold change” as the “number one goal” for Democrats and reiterated that “we cannot fail” to pass S.1, the For the People Act: “failure is not an option. We cannot fail to pass S.1. And we will, we will.”
In response to a question about his support for eliminating the filibuster, Senator Schumer said “everything is on the table” and reiterated his goal of passing the Democrats’ policy agenda “by whatever means we can get there.”
Eli Zupnick, spokesman for Fix Our Senate, gave the following statement:
"Majority Leader Schumer recognizes that the ‘Jim Crow filibuster’ cannot be allowed to stand in the way of passing the For the People Act and strengthening our democracy to ensure every person’s voice is heard. Senator Schumer knows the clock is ticking—Senate Democrats will have to choose between protecting the filibuster or protecting our democracy. They won’t be able to do both."
Here’s the link to the full interview with Mehdi Hasan on MSNBC with key excerpts below:
Schumer: “I named it S.1. as one of my first acts as the Senate majority leader, and what I say there is failure is not an option. We cannot fail to pass S.1. And we will, we will. Hopefully we can win over some Republicans on that. But if we can't, again, our caucus will have to assemble. We cannot fail and everything is on the table, plain and simple. The method is much less important.
Mehdi: Everything including the filibuster?
Schumer: Everything I've said, everything is on the table. That's right.
Mehdi: Do you personally support getting rid of the filibuster as the leader?
Schumer: I support getting big, bold change by whatever means we can get there.”