The loss of major votes means Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and majority leader, believes his party can achieve victory.
Despite certain defeat, Mr. Schumer has scheduled a vote Thursday on a bipartisan border security measure that collapsed as soon as it was made public in February, when Donald J. Trump torpedoed it as “madness” and “a gift to the Democrats.”
Mr. Schumer sees his maneuver as a way to remind voters upset about the chaos at the southern border that it is Republicans who are blocking a solution even after reaching a deal with Democrats that could solve the problem. He insists that the potential political gains for Democratic candidates in tough races in Ohio, Montana and elsewhere are just a bonus.
“It's good for the country,” Mr. Schumer said in an interview about the legislation. “But it is clear: if it has electoral consequences, then so be it.”
With most of this year's heavy legislative work done and the elections that will determine control of Congress fast approaching, Senate Democrats are turning to the “electoral impact” part of their agenda, voting via messaging will be a permanent feature. Mr. Schumer, who has long played a central role in charting his party's political strategy, has a two-pronged plan that will unfold in the coming weeks, focusing on abortion rights and border security.
“In the next two months,” Mr. Schumer said, “we will have a sword and a shield.”
The sword is abortion rights, an issue that Democrats firmly believe — and polls confirm — they have the upper hand with voters following the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.
They plan to press their advantage with a series of failed votes in June on bills protecting access to contraception and in vitro fertilization, which Republicans will almost certainly block. The shield is border legislation that Democrats see as a way to build defenses against Republican accusations that President Biden and his allies in Congress have allowed an influx of undocumented immigrants to spiral out of control.
Republicans concede that these two issues will likely dominate the election conversation and help determine the outcome.
“I think the border will probably be President Trump's best argument, and abortion will be theirs,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.
The series of high-profile defeats will allow Democrats' most vulnerable incumbents — such as Senators Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio — to cast their votes on measures that polls show are popular with voters, while the public it is reminded that the Republicans are against it. .
But as Democrats trying to build a protective political wall around the border issueMr. Cornyn and other Republicans don't think they will succeed.
“This is Washington cynicism at its finest, and the American people will not be fooled,” said Senator Steve Daines of Montana, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “This is a political stunt.”
“I think it's too late to change the narrative on the border,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican and minority leader of Kentucky and a longtime election strategist himself. “They waited far too long.” But, he added of Mr. Schumer, “I don't blame him for trying.”
Even Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, the Republican who negotiated the measure with Democrats, said on CNN Tuesday night that he would oppose his own legislation, saying Mr. Schumer was using the bill as “prop.” Speaker Mike Johnson also took action Wednesday, accusing Mr. Schumer of orchestrating “a bogus messaging exercise that goes nowhere.”
By Mr. Schumer's calculation, Democrats don't need to completely turn the tables on border security; they just need to neutralize it to some extent and provide a plausible counterargument to the Republican claim that the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress allowed a porous border. He says Democrats have already limited Republican power on the issue.
“For us it's at least 50-50,” Mr. Schumer said. “I don't think they can think of anything similar about abortion.”
The border law stalled in February when proponents failed to break a filibuster, and are unlikely to gain even the same level of support they did then. That's because some Democrats were more willing to vote for it because it was tied to foreign military and humanitarian aid that has since been approved by Congress. Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, said Wednesday he would oppose the legislation after previously supporting it. The effort to revive the measure has also come under criticism from progressive groups.
But Mr. Schumer and other Democrats say the divisions in their ranks are evidence that the measure was truly bipartisan and showed that Democrats had given some ground to tighter restrictions. They point to support from the union of conservative Border Patrol agents and Republicans' acknowledgment that the legislation would have eased the flow of migrants across the border if their party had not killed them.
Once the Senate sends the border bill, Mr. Schumer plans to move to a series of votes on abortion rights — the so-called sword — with Democrats viewing Republicans as deeply vulnerable on an issue that could make the difference. are between winning and losing in the fight against abortion. close Senate races.
After the Senate returns from its upcoming Memorial Day recess, Mr. Schumer plans to move forward legislation to protect access to birth control nationwidethe first of two bills intended to draw a distinction between Republicans and Democrats on an issue that many Americans believe should have been set aside long ago.
The following week, Senate Democrats plan to pursue similar measures legislation to protect access to in vitro fertilization and other rural fertility treatments, na The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that a frozen embryo was a person, raising questions about whether such procedures would remain legal. Those votes will be followed by events by Democrats across the country to mark the second anniversary of the repeal of Roe v. Wade and a Senate vote condemning the ruling.
Republicans are developing their own legislation to counter Democratic pressure. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Katie Britt of Alabama have proposed legislation that would block Medicaid funding for states that ban IVF, but Democrats dismiss this as woefully insufficient.
Republicans also plan to emphasize that abortion rights should be decided by states, starting with a series of votes in November in a handful of states.
“They will have referendums in those states to determine what the voters in that state come down to and where the dividing line should be,” Cornyn said, calling that process the correct constitutional approach.
Mr. Schumer, however, sees the Senate votes on abortion rights and the border proposal as a vivid illustration to voters of the divide between the two parties on key issues.
“We are showing, as part of our work, how different the two sides are on both issues,” he said.