Maryland’s Far Left Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen announced on yesterday that he would challenge Senator Chuck Schumer of New York for Senate Majority Leader, setting up a civil war among Democrats just as they were celebrating their new majority and planning for a takeover of Congress in January.
Van Hollen, you may remember, is the liberal twit who took up the cause of Venezuelan Dictator and indicted narcoterrorist Nicholas Maduro. “It is an illegal act of war to replace Maduro” said Van Hollen on 1/3/26. He also famously traveled to Central America to have drinks with the indicted drug dealer, human trafficker and gang banger “Maryland Dad” Kilmar Armando Ábrego García.
Van Hollen, whom the New York Times reports is also said to be weighing a run for president in 2028, has emerged as the favorite to challenge Mr. Schumer for the post and had expressed increasing willingness to do so in recent days.
"In this election, the American people called for change," Van Hollen said in a statement. "It's now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership."
“I think there is a big appetite for change within the Democratic Caucus,” Mr. Van Hollen said in an interview before the announcement. “I think people want to have a system of much more meaningful input, and that’s going to be even more important now that we have this large majority.”
Other Senate Democrats disagree, “We were at 47-53 and now we are at 55, 56,” said Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania and a strong supporter of Mr. Schumer. He added: “I don’t understand why that’s a conversation.”
Senator Fetterman, the Senate Democrats’ lone voice of reason, doesn’t seem to get where the Leftwing of his party is coming from.
Progressive activists have urged that Mr. Schumer, 75, face a challenge to remaining in the position. Donors and organizations including MoveOn, Indivisible and the Working Families Party plan to back and mobilize members on behalf of Mr. Van Hollen. They are threatening to back primary challenges against any Democratic senator up for re-election in 2028 who does not come out in support of him, reported the New York Times.
Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who aligns with Democrats, has said he would oppose Mr. Schumer and encouraged Mr. Van Hollen to become a candidate.
Schumer and his allies have been adamant that he has more than enough votes to hold the position. But secret ballot leadership votes can be unpredictable. Some senators have refrained from going public with their support to avoid coming under pressure from those urging that Mr. Schumer be deposed, the New York Times reported.
With the Far Left of his party apparently backing him Van Hollen says he was not deterred by Schumer’s claim that he has the votes to prevail.
The fact that there’s a strong element of anti-Semitism running through the opposition to Schumer – America’s most senior Jewish elected official – should not be overlooked by observers of the impending vote.
Leftwing activist Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK, posted her list of “10 Reasons Chuck Schumer Should Not Be Senate Majority Leader” to the Far-Left website Common Dreams, first on her list was “He continues to defend Israel.”
Conservatives can sit back and bring the popcorn while this Democrat civil war plays out between now and the secret ballot coming up in December.
However, the reelection of failed Republican Senate leader John Thune portends more failure, more “reaching across the aisle” and more do-nothing but performative opposition from Senate Republicans no matter who Democrats elect as Senate leader.
