Democrats just won back the House and the Senate. Now some of them are turning on the man who is supposed to lead them.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., intends to seek another term as Democratic leader as his party prepares to take control of the Senate next year, but the progressive forces energized by the party’s blue-wave victories want him gone, Fox News reported.
His caucus is fracturing. Longtime allies such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and newer members such as Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., declared this week that they would not back him for leader.
Schumer’s detractors are eyeing Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who has said he’s “kicking the tires” on a 2028 presidential run, to challenge him. Van Hollen is now speaking with Senate Democrats about a bid and openly taking shots at Schumer for siding “with the crypto industry” and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee against progressive candidates.
“We just saw democracy in America in action. We should bring a little more democracy to the United States Senate,” Van Hollen said at the Popular Mandate conference this week. “We have two newly-elected senators who would not be there if Schumer and the DSCC had their way.”
Several senators-elect who rode the blue wave to Washington have publicly said they will not support Schumer. Adam Hamilton, Peggy Flanagan, Scott Colom and Abdul El-Sayed have all rejected him as Democratic leader. Some were not the DSCC’s preferred nominees in key battleground primaries.
El-Sayed said “time will tell” whether Van Hollen has a strong enough coalition to beat Schumer. “I think we’ll see how things play out,” he said. “This is a unique moment, and it’s our job to make sure we honor our mandate.”
The revolt has spilled into the hallways. Supporters left blue, orange and pink sticky notes on a plaque outside Van Hollen’s office, while protesters outside Schumer’s personal office chanted, “hey, hey, ho, ho, Chuck Schumer has got to go.” The progressive group Indivisible has launched a “Tell Democrats: NO Schumer Coronation” campaign urging supporters to lobby their senators against him.
Schumer is playing it cool. “Chris Van Hollen and I are friends,” he said. “We talk frequently, and we’re united, united in lowering costs and united in ending this damn war,” he added, referring to the Iran conflict.
He still has allies. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., dismissed the prospective challenge out of hand.
“Well, what’s his record, other than yelling about anti-Israel stuff, or last year when he visited that wife beating guy in prison,” Fetterman said, referring to Van Hollen’s trip to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, his constituent who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration.
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., also rushed to his defense, crediting his “vision” for the cycle’s pickups.
“And that is why you will see, despite all the grumblings, enormous gratitude for the hard work he has done to get us to this position,” Gillibrand said. “We are about to win nine Senate seats. That has never happened in my political history.”
Ten days after a “historic” night, the new Democratic majority has not yet been sworn in, and it is already fighting over who gets to run it.
Source: foxnews.com
