Schumer Faces Full-Blown Revolt as Van Hollen Launches Leadership Challenge

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland progressive, will seek to unseat Senator Chuck Schumer as leader of the Senate Democrats, he announced Thursday night. Whichever man wins the contest will become the Senate majority leader in January. Mr. Van Hollen has served in the Senate since 2017 and has argued that his party needs to move in a more populist direction. He won plaudits from elected Democrats and party activists for traveling to El Salvador last year in order to meet with a constituent who had been detained and deported by the Trump administration. After the sweeping Democratic midterm victories last week — which saw several anti-Schumer Democrats elected to the Senate — Mr. Van Hollen announced his candidacy for majority leader. He says the midterm results are not just a rebuke of President Trump, but of Democratic leaders like Mr. Schumer, as well. “This is not about any one individual, but it is about answering the call of the American people,” Mr. Van Hollen said on MS NOW’s “The Briefing with Jen Psaki” on Thursday night. He said America’s “corrupt political system” and “business as usual” must be done away with, and argued that this is “a generational opportunity for the Senate to respond to the call of the American people for change.” Mr. Van Hollen said one of the biggest differences between himself and Mr. Schumer is that he is willing to more ardently respond to the desires of the Democratic Party’s base. During his appearance on MS NOW on Thursday night, Mr. Van Hollen said he would not agree to any government funding deal next month that funds the “illegal and senseless” war with Iran. “I believe we need to end it now, immediately,” he said. “That means not one more penny spent on this war.” Mr. Schumer has so far not embraced the idea that Democrats should use government funding as a leverage point to end the war. Minutes after Mr. Van Hollen declared his candidacy for majority leader, Mr. Schumer said in a statement that he has already locked up the requisite number of votes to stay on as leader of the Democratic Caucus. Unlike in the House, where anyone hoping to be speaker must receive a majority of votes cast in the whole House, the Senate majority leader position is decided by simple majority vote within the caucus of the party that holds the majority. If the Alaska Senate race is won by Democrats, then they will have 56 seats starting in January, meaning Mr. Schumer will need the support of 29 Democratic senators and senators-elect in order to win. “I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement Thursday. Sitting Democratic senators and Democrats due to be sworn into the Senate in January began publicly taking sides shortly after Mr. Van Hollen said he would challenge the sitting leader. Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, endorsed Mr. Schumer in a statement, asking: “Why would you fire the manager when you just won the World Series?” Senator Catherine Cortez Masto also vouched for Mr. Schumer in a statement after Mr. Van Hollen’s announcement, saying she would support her colleague from New York. Before the Maryland senator declared his candidacy on Thursday, he had been telling colleagues and reporters that he was in “listening mode,” and that he would think about running for leader. He had previously ruled out a challenge to Mr. Schumer because he was considering a 2028 White House run. As Mr. Van Hollen opened the door to a challenge to Mr. Schumer, lawmakers began to take sides even before the campaign became official. Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed said that they would support Mr. Van Hollen if he chose to run for the position. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Ruben Gallego, Sheldon Whitehouse, and John Fetterman, as well as Senator-elect Sherrod Brown, came out to announce their support for Mr. Schumer earlier this week. Other senators-elect, including Juliana Stratton of Illinois and Troy Jackson of Maine said during their campaigns that they will not vote to make Mr. Schumer leader under any circumstances.

Schumer Faces Full-Blown Revolt as Van Hollen Launches Leadership Challenge

Schumer Faces Full-Blown Revolt as Van Hollen Launches Leadership Challenge

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