It has been a rocky 2025 for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

It was enough to lose the White House and each chamber of Congress.

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But President Donald J. Trump is steamrolling over the Democratic agenda, which the Brooklyn-born politician steered into place through his position as Senate majority leader during the Biden administration.

A liberal Jewish man, Sen. Schumer also finds himself caught between his Jewish constituents and the verbal progressives in his party, many of whom are anti-Israel and even antisemitic.

On top of this, the New York City political landscape has taken a sharper turn left with socialist Zohran Mamdani crushing other Democratic mayoral candidates in the primary. Of late, Sen. Schumer has not been delighting the progressive wing of his party.

Academically and Politically “Charmed”

This terrain is markedly different from the relatively smooth footing Sen. Schumer has enjoyed in his political career. Born in November 1950, Charles “Chuck” Schumer’s family had humble origins. His father was an exterminator, and his mother was a homemaker. His family stemmed from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Austria, with some lost in the Holocaust.

Sen. Schumer thrived academically, earning valedictorian honors at his Brooklyn public high school.  He attended Harvard College, graduating in 1971 with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors. He then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1974, again with honors.

Though Sen. Schumer is a member of the New York State bar, he never practiced law, opting instead for a political career.

A Career Politician

In 1974, Sen. Schumer became the youngest person — since Theodore Roosevelt — to be elected to the New York State Assembly. He was 23. After serving three terms, Schumer replaced the representative for the 16th district in the U.S. Congress in 1980. He easily won re-election eight times.

In 1998, Sen. Schumer ran for Senate, upsetting the three-term GOP incumbent Sen. Al D’Amato. He’s been ensconced in the Senate since then.

In 2016, he was elected by his Democratic peers to serve as minority leader. This made him the first New Yorker and first Jewish person to serve as a Senate leader. He became the majority leader for President Joe Biden’s term. Party losses in the 2024 elections dropped him back to minority leader. Even so, Sen. Schumer remains the highest-ranking Jewish elected leader in U.S. history.

When Sen. Schumer assumed leadership of the Senate in 2021, he said, “That I should be the leader of this new Senate majority is an awesome responsibility. Awesome in the biblical sense, as the angels that trembled in awe before God. Today I feel the full weight of that responsibility.”

Abortion Advocate

Sen. Schumer holds traditional Democratic positions on domestic policy, including abortion and same-sex marriage.

Sen. Schumer, who has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, wrote the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), which infamously was turned against pro-life advocates during the Biden Administration.

Sen. Schumer’s fight against pro-life supporters extended to threats against Supreme Court Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

When the justices were hearing an abortion-related case in 2020, the senator said that if these justices voted against abortion rights, they would have “unleashed a whirlwind” and would “pay the price.” He then said, “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Republicans and Democrats, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts, condemned these comments as inciting violence. He later apologized for the comments.

Publicity? Yes, Please!

The 2020 remarks were just another example of Sen. Schumer’s courtship of the press. He is known to be adroit in capturing the public eye; many consider his skills material to his rise to power.

He has laid himself open, however, to jokes. Bob Dole, now-deceased Republican politician, said “the most dangerous place in Washington is between Charles Schumer and a television camera.”

Joking may run in the family; Sen. Schumer is a distant cousin of the comedian Amy Schumer.

Same-Sex Marriage Supporter

While it is typical for a New York Democrat to support the LGBTQ+ agenda, Sen. Schumer has personal experience with same-sex marriage. One of his two daughters married a woman, and they are raising a child together.

Sen. Schumer was an advocate for the Respect for Marriage Act, passed by Congress in 2022. The legislation is intended to protect same-sex marriage status irrespective of SCOTUS rulings. Critics charge that the Act fails to provide adequate legal protection to faith-based organizations, exercising their constitutional rights to their viewpoints on marriage.

Conflicts in Israel

As a Jewish man who attends one of the largest — and most liberal — Reform synagogues in Brooklyn, Sen. Schumer has been a supporter of Israel, but a derider of Israel’s conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an outspoken critic of Israeli actions in Gaza.

He was one of the few Democrats to oppose then-President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran. Those who protest Israel have attacked him.

Sen. Schumer, who published a book this year called “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” joined many voices in decrying the startling rise in antisemitic attacks since the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Sen. Schumer’s published remarks draw a distinction between criticizing Israel’s actions in the Gaza conflict and leveling charges of genocide against the Jewish state.

A Bruising 2025

Sen. Schumer’s position on Israel has not won him many friends among his own progressive flank. Many of the younger members (called The Squad) are firmly and vocally anti-Israel.

A recent poll shows the senator losing big time to media darling and Schumer critic New York U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a head-to-head vote.

Many of these same progressive voices strafed Sen. Schumer during the March 2025 funding showdown. The senator initially opposed and then abruptly supported a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through September 2025. Calls for him to step down from leadership were ignored by the long-time politician.

Politics: The Family Business

Sen. Schumer has been married for 45 years to Iris Weinshall, who also serves in politics. She runs the New York Public Library and has served as a vice chancellor of City College of New York and as the city’s commissioner of transportation.

Please Pray!

• For conviction of sin and repentance.
• For salvation and obedience to biblical truth.
• For the Lord to turn to the good all of Sen. Schumer’s actions.
• For the salvation and repentance of his family members.
• For the continuing defeat of evil political, domestic, and international policies and actions.

Post your prayer for Sen. Schumer below.

New York City–based Joyce Swingle is an intercessor and a contributing writer for IFA. With her husband, Rich, who is also a contributing writer for IFA, Joyce shares the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world through theater, speaking, writing, and film. Prior to going into full-time ministry, Joyce worked for about 20 major magazines and now works in pastoral ministry and Christian counseling. www.RichDrama.com. Photo Credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.