Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): $10.4M From Securities Industry Donors, Voted to Cut Housing Aid for 32,000 Families in 2025

Sen. Chuck Schumer has represented New York in the U.S. Senate since 1999 and has served as Senate Democratic leader — majority or minority — since 2017. Campaign finance records show that from the start of his career through 2014, the securities and investment industries contributed more than $10.4 million to his campaigns, making them by far his largest donor bloc over that period. In March 2025, Schumer voted with Senate Republicans to pass a spending bill that increased defense funding while cutting nondefense domestic spending — locking in funding levels that the National Low Income Housing Coalition projected would cost 32,000 families their federal housing vouchers.

Who Is Donating

A Center for Public Integrity analysis of Federal Election Commission data covering 1989 through 2014 found that the securities and investment industries contributed more than $10.4 million to Schumer’s political committees — more than any other industry sector and more than nearly any other member of Congress received from that sector over the same period.

His three largest individual career donors through 2014, according to that analysis, were employees and political action committees from:

• Goldman Sachs: $543,000
• Citigroup: $484,000
• JPMorgan Chase: $365,000

In the 2022 election cycle alone, Schumer received approximately $1.2 million from private equity and investment donors, with an additional $251,000 directed to his leadership PAC. He was the top congressional recipient of contributions from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, in the 2022 cycle, receiving $113,950 from the firm’s employees and affiliated PAC.

By 2009, Schumer’s share of all congressional Wall Street donations had reached approximately 15 percent — roughly double the next-highest senator.

Schumer sits on both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee — the two panels with the most direct jurisdiction over legislation affecting the securities and financial services industries.

Wall Street on Parade, citing OpenSecrets data, reported in March 2025 that three of Schumer’s five largest career campaign donors have been megabanks: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase.

The March 2025 Vote

On March 14, 2025, the Senate voted 54 to 46 to pass H.R. 1968, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025. Schumer voted in favor of the bill alongside a number of other Democrats, providing the margin needed for passage. The legislation had been advanced by House Republicans without negotiation with Democratic leadership.

An analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found the CR set:

• Defense spending at $892.5 billion — an increase of $7.0 billion over fiscal year 2024 enacted levels
• Nondefense discretionary spending at $708.0 billion — a decrease of $3.1 billion from fiscal year 2024 levels

Speaking on the Senate floor before the vote, Schumer described the bill as “a bad bill” but defended his support: “As bad as the CR is, I believe allowing [Trump] to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option.” He cited concerns about market uncertainty from tariffs and argued a shutdown would give expanded authority to the Department of Government Efficiency.

What the Cuts Mean

The National Low Income Housing Coalition documented the specific housing consequences of the CR’s funding levels:

• HUD Community Development Fund: set at $3.43 billion — a cut of $3.29 billion from the previous fiscal year
• Housing Choice Vouchers: funding projected to result in the loss of approximately 32,000 vouchers — the rent assistance payments used by low-income families, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities to afford private-market housing
• Homeless assistance (Continuum of Care): a projected shortfall of $168 million, affecting programs serving 400 communities nationwide

The National Institutes of Health faced a $280 million reduction under the same legislation.

The November 2025 Shutdown and ACA Subsidies

A second fiscal standoff began October 1, 2025, when Congress failed to pass appropriations bills. Senate Democrats sought to use the funding deadline to secure an extension of expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies — premium tax credits then used by approximately 24 million Americans — that were set to expire.

The shutdown ran for 43 days. It ended November 12, 2025, after the Senate voted 60 to 40 on a bipartisan deal to reopen the government. Schumer did not vote for the final measure. Seven Democratic senators — including Dick Durbin, Jeanne Shaheen, John Fetterman, and others — broke with the caucus to support the Republican-led agreement.

The final deal did not include the ACA subsidy extension. Republicans agreed only to hold a Senate floor vote on the subsidies in December 2025, with no commitment to passage.

Progressive House members, including Representatives Ro Khanna, Mike Levin, and Rashida Tlaib, called on Schumer to step down as Senate minority leader, arguing he had failed to hold his caucus together and had blessed the outcome. Schumer retained his leadership position. As of this writing, the ACA subsidy question remains unresolved.

What This Means for New Yorkers

New York is among the states with the largest concentrations of Housing Choice Voucher recipients. The 32,000 voucher reduction projected from the March CR is a national figure; states receive voucher allocations proportional to their existing portfolios. New York ACA marketplace enrollment runs in the hundreds of thousands. The failure to extend subsidies created premium instability for families who had made coverage decisions based on existing tax credit levels.

What You Can Do

Sen. Schumer(who has been in his curren position for over 27 years) is up for re-election in 2028. To contact his Washington office directly, call (202) 224-6542 or write through schumer.senate.gov. To contact your own senators about housing funding, ACA subsidies, or campaign finance reform, visit our take action page.