Sen. Bernie Sanders said he will not support Chuck Schumer’s bid to lead Senate Democrats next year, undercutting the party’s longtime floor leader ahead of December elections.
Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, told reporters Tuesday he will not back Sen. Chuck Schumer’s bid to keep the top Democratic post in the Senate. The statement lands as Senate Democrats prepare leadership elections in December and as some incoming members have already signaled they want fresh leadership.
Bloomberg Government reported that Sanders went further, casting doubt on a free ride for the New York senator.
"He’s not going to run unopposed, I don’t think,"
Sanders said. No one has launched a formal challenge yet. Schumer has kept the backing of many colleagues, and when asked Tuesday whether he is confident he will be elected Senate majority leader, he answered with a single word: “yes.”
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen demurred Tuesday when asked if he would challenge Schumer for the Senate’s top Democratic job. He did not close the door with a hard endorsement either. Instead he framed the moment around delivery, not loyalty.
"There needs to be a plan on how we’re going to use this large majority to deliver for the country,"
Van Hollen told reporters. He added that voters expect action on the issues they care about.
"Voters are expecting us to address the issues that they care about, including right away ending the war in Iran and helping bring down prices."
That is the standard Democratic leadership now faces in public: promises of a large majority, pressure on prices, and a progressive icon withholding support from the man who has run the conference for years.
Senate Democrats will hold their leadership elections in December. Schumer is seeking to lead the conference next year and, if Democrats hold the majority, to serve as Senate majority leader. Sanders’ refusal to support that bid does not by itself create a race. It does make plain that Schumer cannot count on unity from the left flank that has long caucused with him.
Some incoming Democratic senators have said they would prefer fresh leadership. The reporting does not name them or detail their complaints. What it does show is a conference heading into a leadership vote with open restlessness, a non-endorsement from Sanders, and no formal challenger on the field.
Schumer’s public answer was confidence. Sanders’ public answer was refusal. Van Hollen’s public answer was process talk about plans, prices, and a war he says voters want ended. None of that resolves who runs the Senate Democratic caucus. It does show the argument Democrats are having with themselves before the ballots are cast.
Voters who wanted lower prices and fewer excuses will notice who spent the week managing an internal loyalty test instead of owning results. Leadership that cannot lock down its own conference rarely locks down the country’s trust.
