3 minPolitics
Trump, Schumer and Jeffries All Grew Up Near New York City
Donald Trump, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries were raised within about 11 miles of one another in New York City, a rare concentration of power in the hands of New Yorkers in Washington as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress.
Three of the most powerful political figures in the United States grew up within roughly 11 miles of one another in New York City, a geographic coincidence that is drawing attention as Washington's leadership picture shifts. President Donald Trump, a Queens native, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both raised in Brooklyn, all come from the same city.
The overlap is becoming politically significant. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. If the leadership votes go as expected, Jeffries will become Speaker of the House and Schumer will serve as Senate majority leader. For the first time, both congressional chambers and the White House would be led by New Yorkers at the same time.
The last time the top leaders of the House and Senate came from the same state was in 1961, when Texans Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson held those posts. If Jeffries wins the speakership, he would be the first Speaker from New York City, the first Black person to hold the job, and the first New Yorker to lead the House in roughly 160 years.
Jeffries's path to the leadership was shaped by a 2018 primary defeat. Representative Joe Crowley, then the chamber's fourth-ranking Democrat, lost his seat to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a result that reshaped the party's House leadership landscape. The city also has two Supreme Court justices born there, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The city's proximity to the capital has yielded concrete stakes. Trump froze federal funding for the Gateway rail tunnel project, a roughly $16 billion effort, during the government shutdown. In July, a federal judge permanently blocked that funding freeze. Separately, a Queens housing plan at Sunnyside Yard would require more than $21 billion in federal grants. In September, Trump visited Gracie Mansion and discussed the Sunnyside plan with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
New York's requests also include an extension of the Second Avenue subway and relief for SNAP and Medicaid recipients. Advocates can point to a precedent: in 1975, New York faced a fiscal crisis that prompted a federal response, and after Hurricane Sandy the state fought for disaster aid, with Washington offering about $27 billion against roughly $60 billion sought.
Other New York-linked officials also hold significant roles in national politics. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Ocasio-Cortez, who is weighing a 2028 presidential run, all have ties to the state. Whether the leadership votes succeed and how federal funding for New York projects will be resolved remains uncertain.
Source: fortune.com
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