Massive laundry list of thumpers.

After spending six months focused on confirming President Joe Biden’s nominees and fighting off GOP regulatory rollbacks, the Senate majority leader is planning to pivot into bipartisan policymaking mode. During an interview with POLITICO, Schumer outlined an enterprising agenda that includes must-pass bills on defense, aviation and farm policy, as well as long-held priorities like marijuana banking and China competitiveness.

That’s on top of a rail safety plan that could run into a wall of GOP resistance and a challenging push to lower prescription drug prices — plus more. And any of those bills risk falling to a filibuster by Republicans who are deciding whether they’re in a mood to compromise before the 2024 election, which could give them control of the Senate.

“There are a bunch of Republicans in the Senate who want to work with us,” Schumer said in an interview. “We’ll try to get as many [bills] done as we can. Legislating in the Senate with the rules we have is not easy, right? But if you push ahead, we’re going to get some good things done.”

The scale won’t approach 2021 and 2022, when Schumer toggled between approving massive party-line bills and bipartisan measures covering everything from gun safety to infrastructure to same-sex marriage. The House is controlled by the GOP now, and the retirement of several deal-seeking Senate Republicans last year makes things harder for Democrats.

Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) predicted farm, aviation and China legislation would be “most likely” to pass and that everything else is “probably” going to be harder.

“I don’t want people to think that every Congress is going to be like last Congress, where we passed major pieces of legislation,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a red-state incumbent seeking reelection. Simply funding the government, passing the annual defense bill and getting a farm bill done is “not a bad day’s work,” he added.

Given how closely Congress is divided, Senate Democrats face a tricky balancing act as they prioritize. Confirming judges is easier and sometimes more consequential than building bipartisan coalitions, given that Schumer needs nine Senate Republicans to support any legislation; then has to convince Speaker Kevin McCarthy to take it up.

Schumer described his mantra as “judges above all,” a bid to counteract the conservative confirmation juggernaut that former President Donald Trump and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell presided over. Passing more legislation, though, could benefit Democrats, both substantively and politically, dividing the GOP while giving endangered incumbents more accomplishments. And some Republican colleagues might give Schumer surprising room to get things done. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), for one, is working closely with the New York Democrat on an artificial intelligence measure after success on microchip legislation last year. The Indiana Republican predicted the prospects for AI policymaking are “quite good.” “It’s been more fruitful than I would have expected,” Young said of his relationship with Schumer. “To the extent I can play a helpful role in connecting the current majority leader to members of our caucus so that they can advance their legislative priorities, I want to do that.” Then there’s Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), whose job as his party’s campaign chair is to make Schumer the minority leader. Nevertheless, Daines said that this Congress is the “best opportunity that we’ve had” to move legislation that eases banking constraints for cannabis business.