Barely a week after Democrats won back the Senate, the fight over who will lead them is out in the open. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced Thursday that he will run for Senate majority leader in the next Congress, making him the first senator to formally challenge Chuck Schumer for the job.
“The American people called for change”
Van Hollen framed his bid as a response to the midterm results, according to a statement reported by NBC News and the Associated Press.
“In this election, the American people called for change. They called for a change from Donald Trump’s disastrous policies — but even bigger than that, a change from the status quo that isn’t working for working people,” Van Hollen said. “It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership. This is not about any one person — it’s about answering the call of the American people. That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”
In an interview with The Washington Post, he put it this way: “The voters called for big change, and this is a time that we have to deliver for people across the country.”
Schumer: “I have the votes”
Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017, fired back on X, insisting the job is still his.
“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together—55 seats and counting is an amazing result—and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader,” Schumer wrote. “I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”
NBC News reports that Schumer remains favored to keep the post, but that this is likely the most serious challenge he has faced for it.
What Van Hollen is running on
According to NBC News, Van Hollen’s team says he will campaign on having the new Democratic majority use every available tool to end the Iran war, starting with the government funding bill needed to avoid a December shutdown. He is also proposing to reverse President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” get money out of politics and crack down on corruption.
A caucus already splitting
The challenge didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elissa Slotkin said they would not back Schumer for leader, Roll Call and Fox News reported. Several incoming senators — Adam Hamilton, Peggy Flanagan, Scott Colom and Abdul El-Sayed — have also publicly rejected Schumer as leader, according to Fox News. Van Hollen had previously said he was “kicking the tires” on a 2028 presidential run before saying he was in “listening mode” about the leadership race.
Schumer still has allies, including Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who brushed off the idea of a Van Hollen challenge.
What happens next
Senate Democrats will choose their leaders for the new Congress in a closed-door vote in December, and the winner needs a simple majority of the caucus. Van Hollen, 67, was first elected to the Senate in 2016 after more than a decade in the House. Schumer is 75.
Whoever wins will run a majority of at least 55 Democrats during President Trump’s final two years in office.
Reporting from NBC News, the Associated Press, The Washington Post, Roll Call and Fox News.