Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Thursday night that he would be challenging Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for majority leader as a growing chorus of Senate Democrats calls for a new face to lead the party in the 120th Congress.
“In this election, Americans called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption,” Van Hollen said. “To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn’t about any one person — it’s about answering that call. That’s why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”
Shortly after announcing his bid, Van Hollen told MS NOW’s Jen Psaki that his decision to run is not direct opposition to Schumer but due to a greater calling.
“This is not about any one individual, but it is about answering the call of the American people,” he said. “We saw a huge outburst of democracy on Election Day — red states, blue states, purple states — and it wasn’t only a rejection of Donald Trump and his corruption and his wars and his cruelty. It was also about a call for a larger change to take on a broken economic system that’s rigged in favor of the very wealthy against working people, led by a corrupt political system.”
Van Hollen said the reaction to the Iran war is one example of his and Schumer’s differences.
“Well, he hasn’t taken a position on this,” Van Hollen said.
Van Hollen, 67, said voters made their position on the war that has led to increased gas prices clear in the midterm elections. He said he thinks Democrats need to be “firm” in their response to the conflict and not delay action until January.
“We shouldn’t say we’re going to wait till January when we have the power to do it on Dec. 11,” he said. “This should not be a finger in the wind issue. This should not be sort of frittering around. This should not be a question of timidity. We need to answer the call of the American people, end the war, bring down prices.”
Congress has until Dec. 11 to pass a new spending bill, either full-year appropriations or another short-term continuing resolution, to keep the government funded, giving Democrats leverage to demand language that cuts off funding for the conflict in Iran.
“That’s an example of immediately using the power that we have, all of the power we have, to answer the call of the American people, which was overwhelming: End the war, bring down costs,” Van Hollen said.
The tactic, Van Hollen said, puts pressure on President Donald Trump to either listen to the will of the people or shut down the government.
Schumer issued a statement following Van Hollen’s announcement by acknowledging that he welcomes conversation about the party’s future and noted that he has the votes to remain at the helm.
“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” Schumer said. “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. I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”
Schumer, 75, has led Senate Democrats for nearly a decade and will be seeking to stay at the helm. Following the midterm elections, Schumer has faced calls from Democratic senators seeking a younger and more progressive leader to head the party in the next Congress.
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Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), positioned to become No. 2 as majority whip, backed Schumer on Thursday evening, calling for unity and saying “we have no time to waste.”
Senate Democratic leadership elections are expected to take place in early December and will be done by secret ballot, unlike the vote for speaker of the House, which is done by verbal roll call.