Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s son-in-law is a lobbyist for top private equity firm Blackstone — the latest family member to land a lucrative gig with an industrial giant that is subject to government regulation.
Michael Shapiro, the Princeton- and Yale-educated lawyer who most recently worked for the Biden administration as deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Department of Transportation, has been hired as director for government affairs by the Wall Street firm.
The news was first reported by Capitol Account, a newsletter run by former Bloomberg News reporters. The report was cited by Washington Free Beacon.
Blackstone, which is run by billionaire businessman Stephen Schwarzman, has $880 billion in assets under its management.
Shapiro’s portfolio at Blackstone deals with infrastructure investments and projects.
“Mr. Shapiro is a highly talented individual with deep experience in both private equity infrastructure investing and public policy, and we are pleased to have him join our team, Blackstone spokesperson Matt Anderson. “He will not be involved in any advocacy before the Majority Leader or his office related to Blackstone business.”
The Post has reached Schumer’s office seeking comment.
Shapiro wed Jessica Schumer in 2016. The two met in January 2011 when they were both working at the White House in then-President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council, according to The New York Times.
He went on to work for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Jessica Schumer is a registered lobbyist for Amazon while her sister, Alison Schumer, works as a product marketing manager at Facebook.
The Schumer children’s ties to Big Tech have fueled concerns the Senate Majority Leader has an inherent conflict of interest when it comes to regulating powerful companies.
The New York Democrat has been accused of moving too slowly in bringing to the floor a vote on antitrust legislation that aims to limit the power of companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Google.
During a recent sitdown with Democratic Party donors, Schumer said that a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) doesn’t have enough votes to pass.
Blackstone and other private equity companies have been targeted by Schumer’s more progressive colleagues in Congress for tighter oversight.
Last year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) authored the “Stop Wall Street Looting Act,” which would bar private equity firms from forcing companies they acquire to take on more debt in order to extract dividends that they could not otherwise afford.