Chuck Schumer Has Found a Way to Get It Done. So Far.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York ducked into the Democratic cloakroom connected Tuesday to instrumentality a telephone connected his old-school flip telephone from President Biden. Senators were basking successful a uncommon bipartisan occurrence connected infrastructure and gearing up for a much partisan fund brawl — and the president wanted to archer the bulk person helium was a “magician.”

“Not yet, Mr. President,” Mr. Schumer objected from 1 of the backstage sanctuary’s telephone booths, according to an authoritative acquainted with the call. “Only 1 receptor of the rabbit is retired of the hat.”

Mr. Schumer, hardly 8 months into his archetypal twelvemonth astatine the Senate’s helm, has steered some the $1 trillion infrastructure woody and the $3.5 trillion fund blueprint indispensable for the president’s ambitious argumentation docket done the usually gridlocked Senate.

But helium was acknowledging reality. He deed his interim legislative goals connected the fund and infrastructure measures this week, contempt wide skepticism helium could bash truthful connected specified a choky schedule, but the astir hard enactment lies ahead.

Mr. Schumer is trying to present this autumn possibly the astir important authorities investments successful nationalist works and the societal information nett since the days erstwhile Lyndon B. Johnson, whose representation hangs successful his Capitol office, ran the Senate and served arsenic president. He has zero borderline for mistake and indispensable simultaneously beforehand authorities to money the authorities aft Sept. 30 and unafraid an summation successful the national government’s ineligible borrowing limit.

Saddled with a 50-to-50 Senate that Democrats power lone done Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, catastrophe is ever conscionable 1 defecting Democratic legislator away.

But Mr. Schumer said helium believed Democrats would yet unite down a “transformational” societal argumentation bill, contempt glaring disagreements connected cost, due to the fact that their acquisition implicit the past 8 months — including passing a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bundle — had shown them that unity was their champion legislative weapon.

“I deliberation each azygous idiosyncratic believes that if we don’t travel together, thing is worse than immoderate we are going to get,” Mr. Schumer said successful an interview.

Given the evenly divided enclosure and the outsize ambitions of Mr. Biden and his ain members, Mr. Schumer has had to navigate treacherous governmental terrain. More mean Democrats and the president person demanded that helium show immoderate semblance of bipartisanship, portion much wide members person clamored for authorities involution to a grade nary Republican would support.

His solution was the present acquainted “two-track” strategy wherever helium allowed the seekers of bipartisanship to spell their ain mode connected the infrastructure measure portion the progressives could prosecute their societal argumentation docket done a fund measure that would beryllium protected from a Republican filibuster. It seemed counterintuitive that the tracks could coexist, but Mr. Schumer said some factions came to the realization that the strategy served their interests.

“There was a benignant of equipoise to marque it happen,” helium said.

To determination things along, Mr. Schumer applied the main instrumentality astatine manus for a Senate leader: power of the floor. At selected moments, Mr. Schumer strategically scheduled votes to unit the issue, astir notably erstwhile helium acceptable a important ballot connected the infrastructure authorities adjacent though Republicans said they were not acceptable and the measure was not yet written.

Extremely wary of Mr. Schumer, who has tried to unseat galore of them, Republicans suspected helium was trying to stroke up the deal, and the effort to bring the infrastructure statement to an aboriginal decision failed. But Mr. Schumer saw the workout arsenic a occurrence adjacent though, helium said, “Republicans howled astir it.” He said adjacent cardinal Republican negotiators conceded to him aboriginal that had helium not acted, a last woody would not person emerged truthful quickly.

Republicans credited Mr. Schumer with not smothering the infrastructure talks and allowing astir 2 twelve votes connected amendments to the bill. It was a crisp interruption with caller Senate signifier erstwhile specified votes person been astir nonexistent arsenic leaders sought to bounds the governmental vulnerability of their members.

“I don’t deliberation you tin kick excessively overmuch astir the process,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican who yet voted against the bill.

“The follow-on present with this partisan measure is going to beryllium a existent fight,” Mr. Thune said. “They did not person to bash it this way. They chose to, and our members are truly dug in.”

“All it takes is 1 Democrat,” helium continued. “If determination is 1 thoughtful Democrat who objects to this, they could derail it oregon astatine slightest they could signifier it to marque it a batch little worse.”

Senator Rick Scott, the Florida Republican who is starring his party’s effort to recapture the Senate bulk adjacent year, said Mr. Schumer was making a politically lethal mistake stepping into what helium called a taxing and spending bonanza that would occurrence up blimpish voters and alienate mean ones.

“He’s been bully for me,” Mr. Scott said of Mr. Schumer. “He’s been bully if you privation to elite a Republican majority.”

Mr. Schumer thinks helium whitethorn look with the precocious hand. In summation to delivering cardinal argumentation wins to the party’s base, helium said the Democrats could beryllium to Americans that authorities could payment them. That whitethorn good snuff retired what helium called a “sourness” successful the nationalist psyche that led to the predetermination of erstwhile President Donald J. Trump.

“The mode to bash that is reconstruct the American imagination and springiness middle-class Americans anticipation for the future,” Mr. Schumer told reporters Wednesday.

Despite his occurrence connected the nationalist works and the fund front, Mr. Schumer has not managed to interruption escaped 1 of the party’s apical argumentation priorities — a far-reaching voting rights measurement that galore Democrats spot arsenic important to offsetting voting restrictions imposed by Republican legislatures. Absent a national response, Democrats fearfulness they whitethorn suffer their majorities adjacent twelvemonth due to the fact that of ballot restrictions and partisan gerrymandering, careless of their legislative accomplishments.

Mr. Schumer has managed to rally each 50 Democrats down assembling a slimmed-down mentation of a voting measure, but Republicans again blocked his effort aboriginal Wednesday to statement the legislation. Some activists person suggested Mr. Schumer is not moving aggressively capable to effort to alteration Senate rules to overturn the filibuster, which Republicans person utilized to artifact the measures. But astatine slightest 2 Democrats — Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — person said they would not articulation successful specified an effort, depriving Mr. Schumer of the votes to bash so.

Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, 1 of Mr. Schumer’s apical deputies, said helium was doing everything helium could connected voting rights.

“From the outside, radical tin say, ‘Well, the president oregon Chuck Schumer should conscionable marque them,’’’ she said of the holdouts connected the filibuster. “But the world is, each subordinate is elected connected their own, and they person a close to formed their ballot and beryllium held accountable arsenic they spot fit.”

Mr. Schumer said voting rights volition beryllium a precedence erstwhile the Senate returns successful September and that if Democrats, including Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema, spot continuing Republican intransigence, “then we volition spot what happens.”

With the archetypal ballot connected the fund program down him, Mr. Schumer has acceptable a Sept. 15 deadline for the Democratic chairmen of the Senate committees to nutrient the good points of the multitrillion-dollar fund plan. That volition acceptable disconnected the combat with Republicans — and among Democrats — successful earnest. It volition past beryllium up to Mr. Schumer to spot if helium tin propulsion the remainder of the rabbit retired of the hat.

“It is hard, and thing is simply a done deal,” helium said. “And this is the hardest yet.”