Sen. Chuck Schumer challenged by Sen. Van Hollen for Democratic leader post

WASHINGTON — Together, New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were the engineers of a Democratic takeover of the U.S. Senate that many thought unlikely at the beginning of the year.

Yet, in a victory aided by a backlash against President Donald Trump, they’ve helped kick-open the door to a group of incoming senators and some incumbents demanding change — not just in government, but in their own party’s direction and leadership, including Schumer’s.

Against this backdrop, Maryland’s two-term Sen. Chris Van Hollen, 67, announced Thursday night he's making a challenge to Schumer.

Van Hollen, in a statement, said “the American people called for change.”

“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership,” Van Hollen said. “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.”

Senate Democrats, including those newly elected to take office in January, are scheduled to huddle behind closed doors on Dec. 1 to pick party leaders. Schumer, 75, who has led chamber’s Democrats since 2017, could be returned as Senate majority leader, a post he held from 2021 to 2025. But he would not be a unanimous choice, in what is brewing to be the most significant resistance he's ever faced in seeking the party's top spot.

"I like Schumer," Sen.-elect Troy Jackson (D-Maine), who won his party's nomination to challenge longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins without initial support from Schumer or the Gillibrand-chaired Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, said to Newsday on Tuesday. But Jackson, who went on to defeat Collins, reaffirmed Tuesday that, "I want to see who else runs."

Other newly elected Senate Democrats are digging in with their campaign pledges to not vote for Schumer, and others are voicing opposition.

They were joined Tuesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. "Nobody works harder than Chuck Schumer, but in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader," Sanders announced at a Capitol news conference. The next day, he added he could support Van Hollen.

Standing with Sanders at the news conference was moderate Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who said she was also not ready to commit to Schumer.

You can’t beat someone with no one.

But as Van Hollen said this week, the Democrats' election victories weren't solely a repudiation of Trump and his policies. There was also a broader anti-Washington establishment tone, he said.

"Ultimately the question is whether the caucus is hearing the same calls for change, or not," Van Hollen said in remarks at a conference sponsored by a left-of-center think tank, Groundwork Action.

Van Hollen, who's made similar comments at the Capitol, also questioned whether Schumer and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee under Gillibrand during the party primaries "sided with the crypto industry" and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, over progressive candidates. 

Schumer on Tuesday, during a Capitol news conference, expressed little doubt that he will remain the party’s Senate leader. Gillibrand, in an interview, and other senators this week expressed similar assessments.

"I am confident I will be elected majority leader," Schumer said, adding there is unity in the Democratic caucus on issues ranging from bringing down costs to ending the war in Iran, and, "I’ll be proud to lead it as majority leader."

There's irony to the challenge to Schumer coming after midterm elections where Democrats added at least eight Senate seats — even if those successes might have been aided by Trump policies on the war with Iran, tariffs, the economy and other issues.

With Democrats as of Thursday appearing close also to winning another seat — from Alaska — that could bring the net gain to nine and their total seats to 56, to the Republicans’ 44. 

Joining Maine’s Sen.-elect Jackson expressing opposition or indifference to Schumer are: Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.), who has said he would support Van Hollen; Sen.-elect Annie Andrews (D-S.C.); Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton (D-Kan.) and Sen. Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.). Flanagan also has said she likes Van Hollen and noted he traveled to Minnesota during the campaign and "he’s a supporter."

However, the reality is that at least 29 caucus votes — a majority — would be needed to win.

"When the manager takes you to the World Series, you give him another contract — and this, you know, has been a really good election cycle for us," Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said Tuesday, standing next to Schumer at the Capitol news conference.

Gillibrand, in an interview on Monday with Newsday, said Schumer "has the support he needs."

"He raised over half a billion dollars for these candidates. He managed to keep our caucus together over the last two years," she said. "Sen. Schumer did do a lot of things extremely well, and I think the caucus will reward him for that."

With the Democratic takeover of the Senate majority, Gillibrand will herself be elevated to the chairmanships of the Special Senate Committee on Aging, as well as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. Those will put her in the center of discussions on shoring up Social Security, Medicare and restoring Trump cuts to Medicaid and other health-related issues.

But Gillibrand, in the interview, said she is volunteering to also stay at the helm of the DSCC for the 2028 presidential election-year cycle "if Sen. Schumer allows it." Already, she said she is eyeing GOP seats in Iowa, North Carolina, Wisconsin and maybe Florida.

Schumer, who has served five Senate terms, has declined to discuss whether he plans to run for a sixth term in 2028, when his seat is also up for reelection, and younger, more progressive Democrats are being discussed as potential primary challengers.

Gillibrand said she has not even discussed with Schumer his plans — and says she won’t have a role in helping him decide.

"No, we let all the candidates make their own decisions about whether they're running," she said.