Facing a party in turmoil, with moderates and progressives battling to sway its direction after a devastating election, incoming Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer decided to try to make everyone happy.
The newly elected top Senate Democrat navigated a potentially messy fight between two party leaders on Wednesday and expanded his team to include disparate voices, from the liberal Bernie Sanders to the moderate Joe Manchin. It’s not a move without risk for the New York senator.
Under the new structure, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will remain whip while bequeathing his title of assistant Democratic leader to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who Durbin said is now No. 3 in leadership.
Meanwhile, Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) have joined the lower rungs of the caucus’ brass, as has Manchin (D-W.Va.). They join Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mark Warner of Virginia in a caucus structure so large that rank-and-file Democrats struggled to explain the arrangement.