Schumer calls on ‘non-MAGA Republicans’ to work with Democrats

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on “non-MAGA Republicans” to work with Democrats to pass legislation in the next two years as each party is likely to control one house of Congress. 

Schumer told The New York Times in an interview on Monday that he plans to reach out to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans to work with Democrats to post accomplishments instead of remaining in a stalemate. 

“What gives us the opening is that they know embracing Trump and MAGA is a failure,” he said. “Not all Republicans know it, but a large number do.” 

Democrats are projected to hold on to their majority in the Senate, while the Republican Party is likely to win control of the House but by a much narrower margin that was originally expected after Democratic candidates outperformed the polls in many races across the country. 

Many Trump-backed candidates who repeated the former president’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election being stolen lost in key contests that determined the makeup of next session’s Congress. 

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has said the results of the midterms are a clear victory for “team normal,” while billionaire Ken Griffin said he was pleased with extreme candidates on both sides losing. 

Schumer did not specify areas he hopes the parties could cooperate on, but he said Democrats’ performance in the midterms was a gift for passing bills on climate change, gun safety and prescription drug costs. 

He said he will tell his party that it will have to compromise, but “it is a lot better to accomplish something than to just make a mark.” 

Schumer said the midterms made him more of a believer in the power of legislative achievements. 

The Times reported that McConnell said the results of the midterms demonstrate the close political divide of the country and that he welcomes a narrow GOP majority in the House. 

“It appears the likeliest outcome would mean the American people have put a stop to two years of Democrats’ disastrous one-party government,” he said. 

“If they will not help us address the ways their policies are hurting families, they will encounter stiff resistance from the sizable Senate Republican conference that half the country elected to be their voice,” McConnell added, referring to Democrats in Washington.