When Brian Schatz joined the U.S. Senate in 2012, he was the youngest of Turks at 40 and determined to build a long and influential career like his legendary predecessor, Daniel Inouye.
After 12 years he’s still on the Inouye track but no longer wet behind his prominent ears. He reminds people he’s now middle-age, and has started thinking about his “body of work” as turnover moves him up the seniority ladder.
“I’m only young in the Senate (median age 65); I’m not actually young,” he said in an interview.
But young enough to be in the conversation, along with others on the leadership ladder like Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., to become Democratic leader when generational change comes.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., maintains strong support — including Schatz’s — as Democrats confront Donald Trump and Republicans controlling Congress.
Schumer, however, is 74, and the party’s No. 2, Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is 80.
Schatz is chief deputy whip, with big responsibility for lining up votes and maintaining party discipline as Republicans attack Democratic priorities.
He’s halfway up the Democratic seniority ladder on the Appropriations Committee and No. 3 on Commerce — the panels Inouye derived his power from.
Schatz can’t proclaim himself the “king of pork” as Inouye did, but he’s been fifth and 13th among senators in bringing home earmark dollars the past two years, according to Roll Call.
Schatz, Hawaii’s senior senator by virtue of being sworn in a few days before Sen. Mazie Hirono, 77, says he tunes out leadership speculation.
“I’m not in a hurry. I feel like I’m learning a lot and getting better at this job,” he said. “It’s important to prepare to get the job, (but) it’s also important to be prepared in case you succeed and get the job.”
Schatz, a respected organizer and strategic thinker, savors the whip role, which he compares to essential but unglamorous work such as rebounding in basketball.
“Not many politicians want to focus on organizing other politicians,” he said. “There aren’t many of my colleagues who actually love that part of the job.
“I enjoy making the place work,” he said. “If there’s an opportunity to serve doing something else in the Senate, I would look at it, but I don’t wake up every morning wringing my hands trying to figure out how to get a different job.”
Schatz said, “Now that I’m in middle age … (I) think about the body of work more than the title because lots of people have achieved titles, but you couldn’t really remember what they did.”
He expects rough rowing with Republicans in control but is leery of “telling people about all the terrible things that are about to happen before they happen. … There are going to be challenges in front of us, but we have to wait until they present themselves.”
Schatz predicts federal aid to states will hold stable despite fears of Trump cuts.
“I’m vigilant and bordering on paranoid regarding federal funds because that’s my primary function,” he said. “But I don’t see any indication there’s going to be a steep drop. … There are adults in charge of the appropriations committees.”
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
