Chris Van Hollen has intensified his challenge to Chuck Schumer for the Democratic Senate leadership, claiming he has a “wide open” route to becoming majority leader next year.
The Maryland senator said he had the backing of 15 colleagues, up from the more than 10 supporters he had previously identified, and suggested that Mr Schumer’s claimed support was not secure.
“I can tell you that a number of those people on that list have actually committed to voting for me,” Mr Van Hollen told CNN’s State of the Union programme. “The others are very open to the idea of change.”
Mr Schumer, the New York senator who has led Democrats since 2016, has said he has secured enough commitments to remain in the post for a further two years. The contest will be decided in a secret-ballot vote scheduled for 1 December.
Democrats will hold at least 55 seats in the Senate next year, including independent senators who caucus with them. A candidate requires a simple majority of the caucus to win.
Mr Van Hollen, 67, also accused Mr Schumer, 75, of seeking to bring forward the leadership election because he was uncertain of his support. The allegation comes as some lawmakers discuss changing the date to prevent a prolonged internal contest.
“If they really believed that they were ahead, they wouldn’t be trying to move up the elections,” Mr Van Hollen said on Fox News Sunday. “They’re talking about trying to short-circuit that open debate process within the Democratic caucus.”
People familiar with the discussions said the idea had not clearly gained traction and was not being driven by Mr Schumer himself.
Disputes over Iran funding and primary contests
Mr Van Hollen has presented his candidacy as a challenge to what he described as a return to business as usual after the midterm elections. He said he and Mr Schumer differed over funding the war with Iran, arguing that Congress should provide “not one penny more”.
He said Democrats should use next month’s government funding deadline as leverage. Congress must agree funding by 11 December to avoid a shutdown.
Mr Schumer and other senior Democrats have been considering a temporary extension of government funding, with some restrictions on military money, until early 2027. They would then hold the Senate majority and are expected to have greater leverage against the Trump administration.
Mr Van Hollen also criticised Mr Schumer’s efforts to influence Democratic primaries, particularly in races involving senators-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota.
“He joined with AIPAC and crypto to try and defeat them,” Mr Van Hollen said, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent about $30 million in the Michigan primary against Mr El-Sayed.
Mr Schumer’s allies have pointed to five successful candidates he recruited in states Democrats flipped or are on track to flip: Mary Peltola in Alaska, Roy Cooper in North Carolina, Josh Turek in Iowa, Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Scott Colom in Mississippi.
They have also said that Senate Democrats’ campaign arm did not spend money in the Minnesota Senate race.
Mr Van Hollen nevertheless said the election result showed that voters wanted change. “We need to earn people’s trust, and I don’t think you do that by simply going back to business as usual,” he said.
