Schumer's Actions: Lawful Or Unlawful?

Chuck Schumer is an American politician who has been a Democratic senator from New York since 1999. He has served as the Senate's minority leader and majority leader. Schumer has been a vocal supporter of liberal causes, including same-sex marriage, abortion rights, and health care reform. He has also been an advocate for legislation combating violent crime, such as the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and the Violence Against Women Act. While Schumer has had a notable career in politics, there have been questions about whether he has broken the law. In 2008, he publicly released letters he had written to regulators about IndyMac Bank, which subsequently failed. This led to a run on the bank and some have argued that Schumer's actions contributed to its collapse. However, a Treasury Department audit found that the primary causes of IndyMac's failure were related to its business practices and the broader subprime mortgage crisis.

In more recent news, Schumer has been accused of obstruction of justice for his comments about Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. During a rally outside the Supreme Court, Schumer stated that if the justices ruled against abortion rights, they would pay the price and won't know what hit them. These comments were condemned by both Republicans and Democrats as inciting violence. However, a spokesperson for Schumer later clarified that the comments were in reference to the political price that would be paid and not a threat of physical violence. Schumer has since apologized for his remarks.

Schumer's alleged obstruction of justice

In March 2020, Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, came under fire for statements he made about Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, who had been nominated by then-President Donald Trump. At a rally outside the United States Capitol, while the Supreme Court was hearing an abortion-related case, Schumer said that if Kavanaugh and Gorsuch voted against abortion rights, they would "pay the price" and "won't know what hit you."

The comments were widely condemned by Republicans and Democrats, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who rebuked Schumer for his "dangerous" comments, stating that "threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous." Trump also weighed in, tweeting that Schumer's comments were a "direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court" and that "serious action MUST be taken NOW!"

Schumer's spokesman clarified that the comments referred to the "political price" Republicans would pay and criticized Roberts for following a "right-wing" attack to misinterpret the comments. Schumer later apologized for his remarks.

The controversy surrounding Schumer's statements raises questions about the potential obstruction of justice. 18 USC 1503 is the most common obstruction charge, with two prongs: the first concerning the influence of jurors or officers in a judicial proceeding, and the second, broader prong concerning the obstruction of the "due administration of justice." While some argued that Schumer's comments fell under the second prong, others claimed that he was untouchable due to his position in the justice system.

Schumer's role in the Violence Against Women Act

Chuck Schumer, the senior senator from New York, played a key role in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). He was one of the original authors of the bill when it was first passed in 1994. He has since supported its reauthorization in 2000, 2005, 2013, and 2022.

Schumer, a Democrat, has served in the Senate since 1999 and was the Senate Minority Leader from 2017 to 2021 and again from 2025 onwards. He was the Majority Leader from 2021 to 2025. Before his election to the Senate, he served in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1999.

Schumer was first elected to public office in 1974 when he was voted into the New York State Assembly. He was the youngest member of the assembly since Theodore Roosevelt. Schumer has a law degree from Harvard but never practised law, instead pursuing a career in politics.

In addition to VAWA, Schumer has supported other legislation focused on reducing violence and protecting vulnerable groups. He introduced the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1993 and co-wrote a law banning private ownership of assault weapons. He has also supported legislation to provide funding for local programs that support survivors of domestic violence with housing, transportation, and phones to help them escape dangerous situations.

Schumer's stance on abortion rights

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader and member of the Democratic Party, has been a vocal supporter of abortion rights. He has been a key supporter of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), helping steer it through committee and to passage. He also helped write and pass the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the first federal legislation protecting women from domestic abuse.

Schumer has also championed legislation that would codify abortion rights into federal law, protecting a woman's right to get an abortion regardless of what bans a state legislature tries to pass. He has also supported federal legislation to close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act that allow the gender wage gap to persist and strengthen protections for women in the workplace.

In addition, Schumer has been a strong advocate for reproductive justice, which seeks to address restrictions on reproductive health, including abortion, that perpetuate systems of oppression, lack of bodily autonomy, white supremacy, and anti-Black racism. He believes that access to equitable reproductive health care, including abortion services, is critical to the health of every person capable of becoming pregnant.

Furthermore, Schumer has introduced and supported bills that protect a person's ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy and a health care provider's ability to provide abortion services. He has also been a leader in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, known for his effective advocacy of legislation combating violent crime.

Schumer's involvement in the impeachment of Trump

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader and a member of the Democratic Party, played a key role in the impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump, charging him with "incitement of insurrection" for his role in the Capitol riots on January 6. The proceedings then moved to the Senate, where, as Majority Leader, Schumer sought to negotiate the terms of the trial. He pushed for additional witnesses and documents, but his requests were blocked by the then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

On February 8, 2021, the Senate impeachment trial began, with Schumer announcing the schedule after reaching an agreement with Republicans, who had pushed for a delay to give Trump more time to prepare his defense. The trial was unique, as Trump was the only U.S. president to have been impeached twice, and this was the first impeachment trial of a former president.

Despite Schumer's efforts, Trump was acquitted by the Senate in a nearly party-line vote. Acquittal required a two-thirds majority, and Democrats, who held a narrow majority in the Senate, were not able to get enough Republican support to convict Trump.

Schumer's involvement in the impeachment process was part of his broader opposition to Trump and his policies. He had previously helped defeat Republican efforts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and criticized Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his response to the 2020 presidential election results.

Schumer's influence on Biden's judicial appointments

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, has been a key player in getting President Biden's judicial nominees confirmed. During Biden's first year in office, Senate Democrats confirmed a historic number of circuit and district court judges, the most in a president's first year in four decades. Schumer himself has said that confirming judges was a top priority for him and Biden, even taking precedence over passing policy goals.

Schumer has emphasised the importance of appointing liberal judges to counterbalance the large number of conservative judges appointed by Trump during his first term. He has also highlighted the need for diversity in the judiciary, with Biden's nominees including the first LGBTQ woman, the first Muslim American, and the first Native American judges to serve on federal courts.

• Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, the second African American to serve on the Seventh Circuit
• Tiffany P. Cunningham, the first African American Judge to serve on the Federal Circuit
• Eunice C. Lee, the second African American woman to serve on the Second Circuit
• Zahid Quraishi, the first Muslim American federal judge in US history
• Lauren J. King, the first Native American to serve as a federal judge in Washington State
• Tana Lin, the first Asian American to serve as a federal judge in Washington State

Overall, Biden appointed 235 judges during his single term, surpassing Trump's total of 234 in his first term. This has given Democrats some hope of resisting the Republican agenda, with Schumer stating that the judiciary will be their "strongest barrier" against the incoming Republican trifecta.

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