Chris Van Hollen Launches Bid to Unseat Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader

On Thursday, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen announced on social media that he will challenge Chuck Schumer for the top job in the Senate Democratic caucus. The post came as Democrats prepare to take back the Senate majority in January, and it sets up a contest over who will lead them once they do.

Van Hollen framed the move as a response to voters. "In this election, the American people called for change," he wrote, describing a rejection of Donald Trump's policies and, beyond that, of a status quo that is not working for working people. He said it was now up to Democrats to meet the moment and that this required new leadership. "This is not about any one person," he added.

Schumer, who leads the Democratic minority in the current Senate, answered less than a minute later with his own post. He said he welcomed discussion about the caucus's future, pointed to "55 seats and counting" as an amazing result, and said he has the votes to keep serving as Democratic leader. He said he looks forward to leading the new majority.

Later Thursday night, Van Hollen told MSNOW that he saw a "huge outburst of democracy" on Election Day across red, blue and purple states. In his reading, voters rejected Trump, his wars and his cruelty, and also called for a larger change to an economic system he described as rigged in favor of the very wealthy and fueled by a corrupt political system.

The contest pits a progressive against a centrist. It follows Senate wins for progressive Democrats in Michigan and Maine whom Schumer did not initially back. One of them, Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Van Hollen almost immediately. El-Sayed said the public had rejected Trumpism but that Democrats have yet to earn their mandate, which would take bold leadership. He said he had urged Van Hollen back in April to run, because he leads with courage and experience.

El-Sayed's endorsement carries its own history. In August, he narrowly defeated Representative Haley Stevens, Schumer's preferred candidate, in Michigan's Democratic primary, despite tens of millions of dollars spent on her behalf by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He is the first Muslim US senator and a sharp critic of Israel. Stevens later endorsed his Republican opponent, former congressman Mike Rogers, days before the general election.

The contest also offers senators a choice between two ways of confronting Trump. Schumer is a cautious politician who has drawn wide criticism from Democratic voters for failing to stand up to the president. Van Hollen went to El Salvador in early 2025 and demanded to check on Kilmar Ábrego, a Maryland constituent who had been wrongly deported there, a direct challenge to the administration's mass deportation effort.

Elsewhere in Thursday's politics, Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and incoming chair of the House judiciary committee, said one of his first priorities will be investigating the firings of career justice department employees over the past two years. He called it central, and said Democratic majorities in both chambers would give the party more authority through the power of the purse. Raskin was in Denver with other Democrats discussing next steps. Cindy Holscher also won the Kansas governor's race, narrowly beating Republican Ty Masterson.

The question now is whether Senate Democrats, who will do the voting, side with Schumer's claim that he has the votes or with Van Hollen's call for a more confrontational new leadership before the new majority takes power in January.