“The Time Is Now for Change”: Sanders Says He Won’t Back Schumer for Leader

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced on Tuesday that he will not be supporting Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) run for Senate majority leader in the new Congress and suggested that someone else will be running to replace him.

“I personally have known Chuck Schumer for 30 years, and I like Chuck — nobody works harder than Chuck Schumer,” said Sanders in a press conference. “But, in my view, the time is now for change. And I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader.”

This marks the first major public defection in the caucus against Schumer. There hasn’t yet been a senator to formally nominate themselves to challenge Schumer. But Sanders suggested in his remarks that Schumer won’t be running unopposed and floated the name of progressive favorite Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) for the role.

“I think one of the names out there is Chris Van Hollen. I think Chris has indicated some interest, but you’ll have to talk to him,” Sanders said. Sanders added in an interview that he would back Van Hollen if he ran.

Van Hollen is reportedly actively considering a run. On Tuesday, Van Hollen said at the Popular Mandate conference that he is “actively listening to people who are looking for” change, and called for a “bold agenda.”

“I am in the process right now of calling my colleagues,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, this is a vote in the Democratic caucus. So let’s just keep in touch.”

Further in his press conference, Sanders said that voters must be shown that the party is ready to respond to their demands after Americans entrusted them with a massive congressional majority, adding: “We need a process, we need a vigorous debate about the direction of the Democratic Party.”

Sanders was joined by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan), who agreed that lawmakers must come together to decide on their goals. Slotkin said that Democrats should withhold quorum if Schumer is the only candidate and doesn’t present a vision for the future of the party.

The two lawmakers had just come out of a meeting with Senate Democrats in which they said Schumer had not provided a clear goal for their upcoming majority.

Flanked by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) in a press conference after that same meeting on Tuesday, Schumer said that he’s “confident” he will be reelected as leader.

Polling by YouGov for Indivisible released on Tuesday found that only 10 percent of voters say that Democrats should choose Schumer to be majority leader, while 57 percent said they should choose someone else.

Van Hollen has long criticized Schumer’s leadership as ineffective, especially in times when Schumer has ceded Democrats’ power during the first two years of President Donald Trump’s second term. Progressives have favored the Maryland senator’s actions on foreign policy, including on Israel and Palestinian rights. They have also pointed to Van Hollen’s visit with constituent Kilmar Abrego García after he was deported to El Salvador as a sign of his willingness to fight against the Trump administration.

Michigan Senator-Elect Abdul El-Sayed (D) has said for months that he would support Van Hollen for leader, and repeated that assertion last week after winning his election.

“We have two members in that room, duly elected senators, that would not be there if Schumer and the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)] had had their way,” Van Hollen said at Popular Mandate on Tuesday, likely referring to El-Sayed and Troy Jackson. “Schumer and the DSCC sided with the crypto industry and AIPAC against these candidates.”