Schumer’s road to the top greased by donations to colleagues
It’s not what they teach in civics class, but the best way to snag a leadership position in Congress is by giving generously to one’s colleagues. By that measure, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is well-positioned to be the next Senate Minority Leader.
Sen. Harry Reid, the top Democratic leader in the Congress’ upper chamber, said today he will not run for re-election in 2016, prompting speculation as to his potential successor. Two senators — Schumer and Dick Durbin of Illinois — have risen to the top of the list.
Schumer’s leadership political action committee, known as “IMPACT,” doled out almost $1.5 million from 2010 through 2014, according to data gleaned from the Federal Election Commission by the Center for Public Integrity. The total includes at least $720,000 donated to Senate Democrats.
Durbin’s Prairie PAC gave away $1.3 million from 2010 through 2014, with at least $675,000 going to Senate Democrats.
But the real difference is in party committee giving. During the same time period, Schumer, via his campaign committee and leadership PAC, gave $5.1 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, more than twice the $2.2 million that Durbin raised with, and contributed to the committee.
Leadership PACs are political committees used by members of Congress to win friends and influence people. They have in the past been criticized as legal slush funds, used for all manner of expenses.
“It’s just unimaginable that anyone would even have a hope of running for Senate leader without having been an active giver,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center. “You wouldn’t even have a chance in hell of winning.”
Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, gained visibility and allies when he was chairman of the DSCC from 2005 to 2009. He helped Democrats take control of the Senate in 2006. Despite his role as favorite — Reid is backing him — he is actually outranked by Durbin, who is No. 2.
The New York senator’s ascension would be good news for Wall Street — his top three contributors from 1989 through 2014 were the employees and political action committees of Goldman Sachs ($543,000), Citigroup Inc. ($484,000) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. ($365,000) according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The securities and investment industries are by far his top donors having given more than $10.4 million over that time frame.
Related: Reid tweet 3
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This story is part of Consider the Source. Seeking to ‘out’ shadowy political organizations flourishing in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
