Schumer, Chuck (Charles Ellis Schumer), 1950–, American politician, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Harvard, 1971, Harvard law school, 1974. A liberal Democrat, he served three terms in the New York state assembly (1975–80) before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–99). First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998, Schumer was instrumental in the passage of the Affordable Care Act (2010), and served as chairman of the Democratic senatorial campaign committee (2004–8) and vice chairman of the Democratic Conference (2006–16). In 2017 he succeeded Harry Reid as Senate minority leader, and he became majority leader in 2021 when the Democrats narrowly secured control of the Senate.
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