Van Hollen Weighs Schumer Challenge as Senate Support Shifts

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who has served alongside Schumer since 2011, said he would not endorse him for the leadership post when the new Congress convenes in January. “We need a conversation about leadership going forward because we need new energy and ideas,” Blumenthal told reporters, according to News 12 in Connecticut. He is the third sitting senator, after Van Hollen and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, to withhold an endorsement. Slotkin said Saturday she was considering a challenge of her own.

Van Hollen said last week that Schumer should earn colleagues’ support by offering a “bold agenda.” A source close to the Maryland senator told Punchbowl News that he had received an outpouring of calls from voters urging him to run. Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett said a challenger could gain momentum if someone had “the courage to step up.”

Schumer, who has been in the Senate since 1999 and previously served nearly two decades in the House, has voiced confidence he will remain the party’s leader. On Monday, he told CNN Democrats’ electoral victory was “about to become the largest landslide in the history of the Senate since the ’50s.” He did not answer a question from reporter Morgan Rimmer about a possible challenge.

Five senators-elect—Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Annie Andrews of South Carolina, James Talarico of Texas, Juliana Stratton of Illinois and Troy Jackson of Maine—have also declined to support Schumer. Progressive organizers point to Van Hollen’s advocacy for constituent Kilmar Ábrego García, his criticism of U.S. policy toward Cuba and Israel, and his vote to end President Donald Trump’s war in Iran as reasons they want him in leadership. Organizer Cheyenne Hunt said the majority elected by voters “should be led by someone who’s been in the fight all along.”

Schumer’s critics have highlighted his ties to campaign donors, including AIPAC, and called for a more progressive agenda. Saikat Chakrabarti, co-founder of Justice Democrats, said Van Hollen would face resistance within the caucus but could prevent votes for bills continuing aid to Israel. In the House, some newly elected progressives have also withheld support from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.