WASHINGTON – As Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders settles into his new role as chairman of a committee that oversees health and labor issues, he says some companies “should be nervous.” And the longtime liberal crusader’s first target is Howard Schultz, the interim CEO of Starbucks which has aggressively opposed its workers’ union efforts.
Sanders and the 10 other Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions sent a letter to Schultz Tuesday urging him to testify at a March 9 hearing at his company Compliance with federal labor laws. If Schultz ignores or denies the request, Sanders said he is prepared to use the committee’s subpoena power to compel him to show up.
“It’s corporate greed,” said Sanders, 81 run twice for the presidency and has spent a political life fighting corporate and financial interests over policies he says hurt the working class. “Workers have a constitutional right to organize. And even if you’re a large, multinational corporation owned by a billionaire, you don’t have the right to break the law. And we intend to ask Mr. Schultz some very tough questions.”
Sanders’ request for testimony from Schultz is an opening act in his new role as chair of the HELP panel, which has broad jurisdiction over issues central to his more than four decades in public service. And thanks Democrats add one seat to their majority in last year’s election, Sanders can fully exercise the Hammer’s oversight powers and possibly issue subpoenas without Republican support.
Sanders said he’s not done challenging individual companies and mentioned Amazon as another company he believes has been illegally targeting unions. And “if you’re a multinational pharmaceutical company that’s ripping off the American people and charging us outrageously high prices, you should be nervous because I’m going to hold you accountable,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. “I’ll do something about it.”
It’s unclear how much he can accomplish in a divided Congress. While the committee will serve as a bullying pulpit for the Senate’s most famous progressive, getting the Senate — let alone the Republican-led House of Representatives — to pass any significant legislation over the next two years will be a difficult, if not impossible, climb. And finding areas of consensus will be a new test for the cantankerous far-left senator, as he is watched with unease by the industries he regulates and members of his own bipartisan committee.
Sanders said he has “two roles” — one as chairman, with a more realistic focus on outcomes, and another that promotes his signature themes of Medicare for All, tuition-free college and paid childcare, among others. He says he plans to take his “show to the streets” and host a series of town halls, roundtables and field hearings across the country. Next week he will hold a town hall in the Capitol and bring the teachers’ unions together to discuss teacher pay.
“I’m the chair of the committee and I want to achieve as much as I can… I’m paid for it and I plan to do it,” he said. “On the other hand, there are issues out there that I don’t expect to be passed at this Congress, but which are very important and need to be talked about.”
Republicans are skeptical that Sanders can make the kind of deals needed to get significant legislation through committee.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican on the panel, said Sanders’ style was “a lot of storm and rage” and little attributable to real accomplishments, meaning “little is being done to get through the committee, and very little will reach the bottom.”
Sanders and his Democratic allies point to bipartisan deals he’s made in the past, along with some of the unexpected relationships he’s forged with Republicans who share parts of his interests. While he spends most of his time talking about his progressive goals, he is also a 16-year Senate veteran with the ability to compromise.
For his part, Sanders pointed to his deal with the late R-Ariz. Sen. John McCain to improve veterans’ performance nearly 10 years ago, and his work with former rival President Joe Biden, who supported him in the primaries of the Democrats 2020 proposed passage of COVID relief directive in 2021 and negotiate a massive package of social spending programs that next year. This legislation eventually stalled.
Referring to the bipartisan veterans’ legislation aimed at improving access to health care after a series of controversies, “he put his heart and soul into it,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the former HELP committee chair and a member of the veterans panel while Sanders and McCain negotiated. “He learned, he listened, he compromised.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Sanders often has different opinions than those on the caucus, “but he usually ends up where the team is.”
Sanders ticked off the Republicans he’s worked with — for example, moderate Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both of whom sit on the committee and have keen interests in rural health issues. He said he meets regularly with Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the panel known for compromise.
And this week, Sanders is holding a press conference with Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican who sits on the panel to demand that the railroads give workers more sick days.
Braun said he met with Sanders to talk about healthcare, and while they approach it from opposite angles — Sanders wants it government-led, Braun wants to reform the industry to bring down costs — they are they basically agree that there are problems. “If you take everything else away, people still worry about the high cost of healthcare,” Braun said.
Outside the Capitol, health insurance industry pundits are watching what steps Sanders might take regarding Medicare Advantage, an increasingly popular program in which private companies offer plans that are government-reimbursed for care. Others, like the healthcare workers’ unions, are keen to work with Sanders as hospitals across the country grapple with staff shortages and healthcare worker burnout.
With his new position, Sanders appears inclined to remain in the Senate. He said he was not interested in replacing outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and refused to even talk about his own political future.
“I intend to use this committee to address the real issues facing working-class people,” he said.
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Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz and Seung Min Kim in Washington and Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.
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