July 19, 2021: Schumer channels his inner McConnell

Chuck Schumer seems to be channeling Mitch McConnell these days. The Senate majority leader is taking a gamble worthy of the last guy to have his job by scheduling two major deadlines this week to force action on President Joe Biden's agenda.

It’s a hardball move meant to test whether Republicans who say they want bipartisanship mean it — but also to strong-arm his own ideologically diverse caucus into line on the massive, Dem-only reconciliation bill.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.