Schumer, Warren locked in battle over future of Democratic Party

Senate Schumer, Warren locked in battle over future of Democratic Party Comments: by Alexander Bolton - 07/01/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Alexander Bolton - 07/01/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is locked in a contest for influence with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) over the future of the Senate Democratic caucus as the two battle to shape the outcome in this year’s primaries.

Warren, a progressive who has been outspoken in her criticism of the cryptocurrency industry, has made a big push this election cycle to help elect candidates who she says will fight harder to change the status quo in America, even if that means backing candidates who won’t support Schumer as leader.

Warren recently pointed to the victories of three progressive candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) in House primaries in Schumer’s home state as a sign that voters are hungry for big changes and bold progressive policies in Washington.

“It says more about the state of voters. Voters want change. They want people who have clear ideas about how to make their lives better and to know that they will fight for them,” she told The Hill.

The victories by the progressives were seen as losses by the Democratic establishment, which had backed incumbent Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman (N.Y.) and Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.).

Warren also endorsed Mamdani during his 2025 mayoral race while Schumer declined to publicly back him.

Schumer, one of the Democratic Party’s biggest fundraisers, has prioritized backing more centrist candidates whom he views as better bets to win in the general election. He has minimized calls for his ouster as Democratic leader by talking about his goal of winning back Democratic control of the Senate.

A spokesperson for Schumer told The Hill that the New York Democrat is “focused on one thing: taking back the Senate” so Democrats can stop President Trump’s agenda and “deliver for Americans.”

“That’s why he’s expanded the map and built a real path back to the majority — a path many thought was a pipe dream just a year ago,” the spokesperson said.

The growing tensions between the two are becoming tougher to dismiss or ignore.

Steve Jarding, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to the Senate Democrats campaign arm, said if Warren-backed candidates are elected, she’ll have “soul mates” on key issues and her power will be “elevated.”

“She becomes a senior member of that wing of the Democratic Party,” he said.

A Democratic senator allied with Warren, who requested anonymity to comment on frictions with Schumer, says there’s growing concern among some progressive Senate Democrats that Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) are too aligned with corporate interests.

“Unfortunately, the role of money in politics is such that the Democratic leader has to suck up to all kind of corporate forces that really aren’t that acceptable,” said the Democratic senator, who also cited Gillibrand’s advocacy for legislation favored by the cryptocurrency industry as a major problem for Warren-allied progressives.

“If you watch who led the fight for crypto deregulation, it was Kirsten Gillibrand who is head of the DSCC. That was a terrible deregulation,” the senator said.

The senator also said that Schumer’s prize recruit to run against Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the Maine Senate race, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, was completely out of step with the Democratic Party’s grassroots.

The source said Mills’s age — 78 — raised issues right from the start after Democrats saw then-President Biden, who was 81 at the time, falter in a critical debate against Trump in 2024.

“She had no grassroots energy at all. Zero. She’s a conservative, business-oriented Democrat at a time when the energy of the party, on the ground, the grassroots side is not interested in that. They want the system shaken up,” the senator said.

Warren has endorsed three Democrats in Senate primaries who have said they will not support Schumer serving another term as leader: Graham Platner in Maine, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in Illinois and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in Michigan.

Schumer, meanwhile, backed Platner’s opponent, Mills, in the Maine Democratic primary and supports Rep. Haley Stevens in the Michigan Democratic primary.

Warren also backed Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who hasn’t committed to supporting Schumer as leader, in Minnesota’s Democratic primary, and Zach Wahls in Iowa.

VoteVets, a super PAC that historically has been aligned with Schumer, spent $10 million on ads supporting Josh Turek over Wahls in the Iowa Democratic primary. Turek wound up winning with 63 percent of the vote over Wahls, who in an appearance with Warren said, “I’m not running for the United States Senate to work for Chuck Schumer.”

Schumer touted Turek’s win in a joint statement with Gillibrand.

“His nomination tonight puts the Iowa Senate seat firmly in play, and in November, Iowans will reject Ashley Hinson’s self-serving politics and send Josh Turek to the U.S. Senate,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in a statement, referring to Rep. Ashley Hinson, the Republican nominee of Iowa’s Senate seat.

Warren has also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the state Democratic parties in six Senate battleground states: Alaska, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio. She has contributed a total of $800,000 to state parties this election cycle.

Warren has defended her support of Platner and other progressives despite scrutiny from the media and fellow Democrats.

“The people of Maine are dealing every single day with economic issues that are flattening them against the wall and Graham Platner says, ‘I get it. I get what’s broken. I will go to Washington to reduce costs and to help the corruption in this place,’” Warren said.

Democratic senators don’t think Schumer is likely to face a challenger in a leadership race after the 2026 midterm election because while Warren is working hard to influence the future makeup of the Democratic caucus, she’s viewed as more of an advocate for her policy preferences than someone who wants to manage 50 or so Democratic colleagues as floor leader.

Asked if she would consider running for Senate majority leader, Warren quietly laughed and replied: “I want to do everything that I can to help working families. We need a Democratic Party that’s ready to be in the fight.”

A spokesperson for Warren said the senator “has no interest in being the Senate Democratic leader.”