Newly Elected Senate Democrats Question Whether Schumer Should Stay as Leader
Several senators-elect who won seats in the midterm sweep say the party needs new leadership in January, while Schumer says he intends to serve as majority leader.
Several newly elected Senate Democrats say they are unsure whether Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York should remain their party’s leader when the new Congress takes office in January, opening a debate over whether he should keep the job after Democrats won control of both chambers this week.
Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, in an interview with CNN on Nov. 5, said the question was whether the party’s leaders can pass bills and force the president to act. “It’s about action,” he said. “The question for us is, who are the other options here and who is going to get us to a point where we’re passing legislation, putting it on the president’s desk and forcing him to make a decision.”
Calls for new leadership
Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas, the first Democrat from Texas sent to the Senate since 1988, said in a September interview that the party needed fresh faces. “I think we need new blood in our party, in our politics,” he said.
Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas, who will be the state’s first Democratic senator in 94 years, told CNN he would not back Schumer. “I mean no disrespect for Chuck Schumer but we need new leadership,” Hamilton said, adding that Schumer was a liability for Democrats in Kansas.
Sen.-elect Juliana Stratton of Illinois said in a Nov. 5 interview that she had “certainly made it very clear that it’s time for new leadership in the Senate.” Other incoming senators named as unconvinced include Troy Jackson of Maine and Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, according to the New York Post.
Schumer says he plans to lead
Schumer, 75, has led Senate Democrats since 2017 and is set to become majority leader when the new Congress convenes in January. In a statement late on Nov. 6, he said he planned to keep the job. “I’ve spent decades working to change the Senate map and build a durable Democratic majority. This election proved we could,” he said. “Now we have to make sure what we built lasts, and I intend, as Majority Leader, to keep us on that path.”
Not all Democrats agree the job should change hands. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said Schumer’s delivery of a Democratic Senate “certainly justifies another term as leader,” according to Newsweek.
It is not clear who would replace Schumer. El-Sayed said he would support Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, but an aide to Van Hollen said the senator has said before that he is not interested in the role and is instead weighing a run for president in 2028. Comedian Jon Stewart also called this week for Schumer to step down, according to the New York Post.
Schumer needs only a simple majority of the Democratic caucus to win the leadership post, not the backing of the full Senate.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today, the New York Post and The Sun.
