Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced Thursday that he would challenge Chuck Schumer for the top Democratic leadership role in the Senate, arguing the party needs to take a more populist direction.
“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, who represents Maryland, said in a statement obtained by The Washington Sun.
“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership,” he added. “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.”
Van Hollen, a favorite among progressives who is also considering a run for president, has been critical of Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, accusing them of siding with the cryptocurrency industry and American Israel Public Affairs Committee against progressive candidates.
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Schumer said earlier this week that he is confident he already has more than enough support to be reelected leader.
“I am going to be elected leader, OK, and we’re united on the issues. We’re united,” Schumer told The Sun.
Schumer has faced sharp intraparty criticism over his past handling of government funding fights, with many Democratic voters blaming the longtime lawmaker for not doing more to stand up to President Donald Trump during his second term. Nearly all of the nine newly elected Senate Democrats set to take office in January have said they would not support him as leader, and several sitting Democratic senators have also called for new leadership.
Nevertheless, Schumer again expressed confidence that he will remain Democratic leader.
“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” Schumer said in a statement issued by his office on Thursday. “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.”
On MS NOW on Thursday, Van Hollen said that he is running for leader because the midterm elections were a call to reform the political system more broadly and were not just a rejection of Trump.
“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, and is fueled by a corrupt political system,” Van Hollen said. “The call was really to reject the status quo and to reject business as usual. And to do that, I think we need new leadership.”
Van Hollen said that he would tackle the first 100 days of a Democratic-led Congress differently from Schumer. Though he agreed with Schumer’s plans to reverse cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Van Hollen said that Democrats should expand their sights to reining in artificial intelligence and passing a higher federal minimum wage.
He added that he would not have gotten involved in Democratic primaries as leader, after Schumer backed candidates in Maine and Michigan who ultimately failed to secure the party’s nomination. Van Hollen said more than 10 Senate Democrats have already pledged to support his bid for leader.
“We should be focused on defeating Republicans, not getting involved,” Van Hollen said on MS NOW. “We have two senators right now in the United States Senate who wouldn’t be there if the current majority leader had his way. He supported establishment candidates in the primaries.”
Van Hollen also called on Democrats to reject donations from AIPAC. Schumer has faced criticism from the Democratic base for accepting donations from the group.
“Some of the richest, most powerful people in the world are spending gobs of money in these elections to try to buy a Congress that will do their bidding,” Van Hollen said. “We need to get rid of super PACs. We need to get rid of secret money. We need to get rid of the Elon Musk loophole that allows him to try to buy a Congress while getting billions of dollars in federal contracts.”
The Democratic leadership elections aren’t expected to take place until early December, however, ensuring debate over the leadership race will drag on for several more weeks.
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