WASHINGTON — As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders settles into his new role as chairman of the Senate committee that oversees health and labor issues, he says some corporations “should be nervous.” And the longtime liberal crusader’s first target is Howard Schultz, the interim CEO of Starbucks who has aggressively fought his workers’ efforts to unionize.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., outlines his priorities during an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday in his Capitol Hill office in Washington.
Sanders and the 10 other Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee sent a letter to Schultz demanding he testify at a March 9 hearing on his company’s compliance with federal labor laws. If Schultz ignores or refuses the request, Sanders said, he’s willing to use the committee’s subpoena power to force him to appear.
“This is corporate greed,” said Sanders, 81, who has run for president twice and spent a political lifetime fighting corporations and monied interests over policies that he said hurt the working class. “Workers have a constitutional right to organize. And even if you are a large, multinational corporation owned by a billionaire you don’t have the right to violate the law. And we intend to be asking Mr. Schultz some very hard questions.”
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Starbucks spokesman Andrew Trull said the company is reviewing the letter and “we will continue our ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders, including the chairman’s office to offer clarifying information in reference to these issues.” He did not say whether Schultz will appear.
Sanders’ demand for testimony from Schultz is an opening act in his new role as chairman of the HELP panel, which has expansive jurisdiction over issues that have been central to his more than four decades in public service. And thanks to Democrats adding a seat to their majority in last year’s election, Sanders can fully exercise the oversight powers of the gavel and potentially issue subpoenas without Republican support.
Sanders said he’s not done challenging individual corporations, mentioning Amazon as another company he believes has acted illegally against unions. And “if you are a multinational pharmaceutical company that’s been 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’m going to do something about it.”
It’s unclear how much he can accomplish in a divided Congress. While the committee will serve as a bully pulpit for the Senate’s most famous progressive, passing significant legislation through the Senate — not to mention the Republican-led House – will be a heavy-to-impossible lift over the next two years. And finding areas of consensus will be a new test for the cantankerous far-left senator as he is watched uneasily by the industries he regulates and members of his own committee from both parties.
Sanders said he has “two roles”— one as chairman, with a more realistic focus on results, and another promoting his signature issues like “Medicare for All,” tuition-free college and paid child care, among others. He said he plans to take his “show on the road,” doing a series of town halls, roundtables and field hearings around the country.
Next week, he’ll hold a town hall inside the Capitol, bringing teachers unions together to discuss teacher pay.
“I am chairman of the committee and I want to accomplish as much as I can … that’s what I’m paid to do and I intend to do it,” he said. “On the other hand, there are issues out there that I do not expect will be passed in this Congress, but are very important and they have to be talked about.”
Republicans are skeptical Sanders can make the kinds of deals necessary to push significant legislation through the committee.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican on the panel, said Sanders’ style is “a lot of storm and fury” and light on real accomplishments, meaning “little will be done to get through the committee, and very little will reach the floor.”
Sanders and his Democratic allies point to bipartisan deals he has made in the past, along with some of his unexpected relationships he’s made with Republicans who share slices of his interests. While he spends most of his time talking about his progressive goals, they said, he is also an 16-year veteran of the Senate with an ability to compromise.
With his new perch, Sanders seems inclined to stay in the Senate. He said he’s not interested in replacing the departing Labor Secretary, Marty Walsh, and refuses to talk about his own political future at all.
“I intend to use this committee to address the real issues are facing working class people,” he said.