washington<u+2014>when president-elect donald trump takes office next january, democrats<u+2019> last line of legislative defense will be run by a brash new yorker of their own: sen. charles schumer. a veteran deal maker and famously nonstop political strategist, mr. schumer is expected to be elected by his colleagues on wednesday to replace retiring minority leader harry reid (d., nev.) in his new post, mr. schumer will assume command of the senate wing of a party contending not only with a white house soon held by mr. trump, a republican, but also democrats<u+2019> own internal divisions, which could be reinforced by their losses in this week<u+2019>s election. mr. trump<u+2019>s stunning victory, fueled by a wave of discontent with the political status-quo, is expected to empower democrats<u+2019> liberal wing, whose skepticism of trade deals and wall street shared some overlap with mr. trump<u+2019>s populist message. longtime liberal sen. elizabeth warren (d., mass.) and sen. bernie sanders (i., vt.), who enthralled many of the party<u+2019>s younger voters in the democratic presidential primary, will likely have new sway in democrats<u+2019> internal deliberations. <u+201c>if we have learned nothing else from the past two years of electioneering, we should hear the message loud and clear that the american people want washington to change,<u+201d> ms. warren said in a speech thursday. <u+201c>the american people have called out loudly for economic and political reform. for years, too many republicans and too many democrats have refused to hear their demands.<u+201d> mr. schumer, in an interview this week, played down the party<u+2019>s divisions, saying that house republicans<u+2019> internal strife has blocked more legislative action than democrats<u+2019> disagreements. <u+201c>our party is far less divided than the republicans,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>we have some differences in our caucus, but they don<u+2019>t prevent us from being unified and getting things done.<u+201d> mr. schumer, whose new york constituents include many in the financial industry, may be reluctant to let the party<u+2019>s liberal wing pull its policy too far to the left. many of the more centrist senate democrats will be up for re-election in 2018<u+2014>including sens. heidi heitkamp of north dakota, joe donnelly of indiana, joe manchin of west virginia and jon tester of montana<u+2014>and defending them is likely to be a priority. <u+201c>there are a lot of democrats who would have a really difficult time defending a progressive agenda,<u+201d> said greg valliere, chief global strategist at horizon investments. <u+201c>they would seem out of step<u+201d> from their conservative-leaning states. in addition, mr. schumer has a long record as a savvy deal maker in the senate, and republicans will have new incentives to work across the aisle next year. in 2017 republicans will control the house majority, but hold only 52 seats in the senate, where 60 votes are needed to pass most legislation. democrats have been divided in the past over issues including energy regulations and how to overhaul the business tax code, topics that republicans and mr. trump are likely to revisit next year. bipartisan efforts to pare down environmental regulations won<u+2019>t sit well with the party<u+2019>s liberal wing. <u+201c>the challenge we face with global warming is equivalent to an asteroid aimed directly at the earth,<u+201d> sen. jeff merkley (d., ore.), the only senator to endorse mr. sanders during the primary race, said thursday. in some ways, mr. schumer<u+2019>s job next year will be easier as the leader of the minority party in the senate and one that doesn<u+2019>t control the white house. had democrats won the white house and senate majority on tuesday, mr. schumer would have been responsible for clearing hillary clinton <u+2019>s nominees through the chamber. liberal groups were already bracing for a fight over potential cabinet appointments and other nominees they viewed as too cozy with wall street. that could have been tricky for mr. schumer, who has advocated for some legislation benefiting the financial industry, including the reauthorization of a federal terrorism insurance program important to real-estate developers in new york city. he also hasn<u+2019>t been as sharp a critic of banks as others in the party<u+2019>s left wing, not signing some letters written by democrats after the wells fargo scandal over its sales tactics. the responsibility of passing legislation now rests on republicans, who have pledged to repeal and replace the 2010 health-care law, the pitfalls of which have been a political albatross for democrats. <u+201c>the burden on health-care policy shifts<u+201d> to republicans, sen. chris murphy (d., conn.). instead of democrats debating whether they could establish a government-run insurance option, known as the public option, he said, <u+201c>the fight is going to be about what they think will magically insure 20 million people other than the affordable care act.<u+201d> democrats said they hope to find some common ground with mr. trump, citing his campaign stances to improve the country<u+2019>s infrastructure and change the tax treatment of carried interest, private-equity managers<u+2019> share of profits from others<u+2019> investments. and mr. trump<u+2019>s split with republicans on some fiscal issues<u+2014>he doesn<u+2019>t want to change or cut social security<u+2014>could align him with democrats at times. but democrats said they wouldn<u+2019>t hesitate to use their toehold of power in the senate to block mr. trump if he tries to implement some of his more contentious campaign proposals, including building a wall along the border with mexico or deporting all illegal immigrants. on these issues, mr. schumer is likely to face little internal disagreement. <u+201c>where the trump agenda is going to go after vulnerable people<u+2014>immigrants, muslims, women, the poor<u+2014>he<u+2019>ll be able to unify the caucus and be the firewall between the worst of trump<u+2019>s instincts and a compliant republican congress,<u+201d> said former schumer aide jim kessler, a senior vice president at third way, a centrist democratic think tank. write to kristina peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com
charles schumer takes on role of democrats<u+2019> defender - wsj
kristina peterson