Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen announces run for Senate majority leader, challenging Chuck Schumer Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, announced on Thursday that he is challenging Chuck Schumer for the role of Senate majority leader when Democrats regain the majority in January.
“In this election, the American people called for change. They called for a change from Donald Trump’s disastrous policies – but even bigger than that, a change from the status quo that isn’t working for working people,” Van Hollen said in a statement posted on social media.
“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership. This is not about any one person – it’s about answering the call of the American people. That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”
Schumer, the leader of the Democratic minority in the current Senate, responded less than a minute later in a social media post of his own. “I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” Schumer wrote. “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. I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”
The battle pits a progressive Democrat, Van Hollen, against a centrist, Schumer, in the wake of Senate wins for progressive Democrats in Michigan and Maine who were not initially supported by Schumer.
The contest will also present Democratic senators with a choice between two modes of confronting Donald Trump. Schumer is a cautious politician who has been widely criticized by Democratic voters for failing to stand up to Trump. Van Hollen, by contrast, took on the president’s mass deportation effort head on when he visited El Salvador in early 2025 and demanded to check on the condition of Kilmar Ábrego, a constituent who was wrongly deported to the country.
Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen met Kilmar Ábrego, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland and wrongly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, in a hotel restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador on 17 April, 2025. Photograph: AP
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