Schumer’s former ally mounts leadership challenge as Democrats face rare internal power struggle

Senate Democrats are getting an opportunity they haven’t had in decades: a different option for who their leader could be.

Even before the blue wave crashed over Republicans and Democrats emerged with a commanding majority in the Senate, the rumblings for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to step aside were there.

Now, he’s got a challenger in Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a familiar face in Washington, D.C., who framed his bid against Schumer as one answering the call for change voters demanded. It’ll be the first time that a Senate Democratic leadership race will be contested since 1994.

DEMOCRATS TURN ON SCHUMER AFTER HISTORIC ELECTION WINS AS POTENTIAL CHALLENGER EMERGES

Van Hollen’s emergence, at 67, as the lone challenger to Schumer, 75, comes after lawmakers and candidates demanded a change in Democratic leadership before the election. That call has only intensified in the week after Democrats won the midterms, with Van Hollen interpreting the seismic political shift as an indictment of President Donald Trump that can only be acted on if Senate Democrats go in a new direction.

The challenge is already dividing Senate Democrats.

In an interview with MS NOW, Van Hollen didn’t offer a sharp policy contrast to Schumer, and cast doubt on Democrats’ ability to pass key progressive desires, like Medicare for All.

“But it should be very clear: While, you know, voters have rejected the Trump policies, they’ve not yet hired Democrats — they’ve given us a chance, we have to earn their trust,” Van Hollen said. “My view is that you can’t earn that trust with old leadership. You need to move on to new leadership.”

Van Hollen acknowledged that he was an “underdog,” but revealed during the interview that he had over 10 Senate Democrats in his corner and believed more were to come. Right now, either lawmaker will need 28 secret ballot votes to win the job — that could bump up to 29 if Democrats flip Alaska, where ballots are still being counted in the Senate race between Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. And it could get messy over the next few weeks before the early December, closed-door election.

And he’s got the backing of the progressive standard-bearer in the Senate: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and new faces of the progressive movement, like Sens.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, who Van Hollen endorsed early on in his campaign, and Peggy Flanagan, who said on X that Van Hollen was the “leader and fighter we need to bring about real change, so no American is left behind.”

VAN HOLLEN CHALLENGES SCHUMER FOR SENATE LEADERSHIP AFTER DEMOCRATIC ELECTION SWEEP

Ultimately, either candidate’s success will likely break down on how well they both work with and push back against President Donald Trump.

Early in Trump’s second term, Van Hollen won praise from progressives when he traveled to El Salvador for a welfare check on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported by the administration.

But Schumer has dealt with Trump for years, and told the Washington Sun that his strategy heading into the new Congress will be to put bill after bill on the floor, like restoring Obamacare subsidies or banning insider trading, and dare Republicans to vote them down — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., used a similar strategy over the last two years.

“In a certain sense, it’s a win-win. I’d rather get things done, but it’s not going to stop us,” Schumer said. “We are going to move forward with or without Trump, with or without the Republicans.”

Despite the demands for change, Van Hollen is very much a creature of Washington, having served in Congress since 2003.

He’s the son of diplomats, and served in House Democratic leadership under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ campaign arm, for two cycles, and was quickly tapped by Schumer to lead the Senate’s campaign operation when he ascended to the upper chamber in 2017.

CHUCK SCHUMER AFTER SWEEPING DEMOCRATIC MIDTERM VICTORIES: ‘I’LL BE RE-ELECTED AS MAJORITY LEADER’

And he spent his entire career in the Senate behind Schumer, who first became leader in 2017, and he has rarely broken with him on key votes. He has, however, emerged as a staunch critic of Israel and criticized Schumer’s ties to the crypto industry and meddling in Democratic primaries.

He currently serves on four committees in the Senate: Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Budget and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and throughout his career in Congress has focused on budget issues and foreign affairs.

Still, outside progressive groups are beginning to back him.

The progressive Sunrise Movement is all in on Van Hollen. The organization announced its support for the lawmaker on Bluesky, and wrote, “Young people voted for change on election night.”

“Chuck Schumer can’t give us that, but Chris Van Hollen might,” they said. “The truth is, the ‘blue tsunami’ could easily become the blue mirage in the wrong hands. And Schumer’s hands are too full of billionaires’ money to hold young people’s future.”

Another progressive group, the 50501 protest movement, also declared its support for Van Hollen Thursday night in a post on Bluesky, urging voters to pressure their senators to “vote Chris, NOT CHUCK.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

There are a bevy of other outside groups that have opposed Schumer, including Indivisible, MoveOn and the Working Families Party, and the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers sent the top Democrat a letter demanding he step aside.

But Schumer has remained confident about retaining his position.

“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” Schumer said on X. “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together—55 seats and counting is an amazing result—and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader.”

His allies have leaned into sports metaphors to describe why he should keep the job, with both Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., comparing it to a successful manager in baseball.

“When the manager takes you to the World Series, you give them another contract,” Gallego said.

Fox News Digital reached out for comment from both Schumer and Van Hollen.