Senate Democrat declines to say whether Schumer should continue in leadership post

Senate Senate Democrat declines to say whether Schumer should continue in leadership post Comments: by Mira Bhakta - 07/31/26 2:46 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Mira Bhakta - 07/31/26 2:46 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) declined to say Thursday whether he would support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for continued Democratic leadership in the Senate.

In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Van Hollen said he was “focused on the 2026 elections.”

A Politico poll from June detailed that 47 percent of people who plan to vote Democratic think Schumer should not remain in party leadership. Only 28 percent said he should keep his role as minority leader.

Still, 40 percent said they want to see candidates “fall in line with Democratic leadership in order to defeat Trump,” while 42 percent said they want candidates to challenge Democratic leadership because “it needs new ideas.”

Collins repeated her question about Schumer remaining in Democratic leadership and added how only 3 in 10 Democratic voters have a “favorable view” of the senator.

“Well, he’s got a very tough job,” Van Hollen responded. “My view is we should get through the 2026 election. See what voters say.”

He added that the party needed to be prepared for the presidential election in 2028 because it would be good to win the upper or lower chamber, but Democrats need to “have a Democrat in the White House.”

Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek (D) also declined to answer whether he would support Schumer to lead Democrats in the next Congress as midterms come closer. Turek is running against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) to succeed retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

Troy Jackson (D), the former Maine Senate president who is aiming to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), said in an interview with The New York Times that he would not support Schumer as the party’s leader in the upper chamber.

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