Will the blue wave sink Chuck Schumer? Incoming Dems seek 'new blood'

Newly-elected Senate Democrats are unsure whether Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and the party’s Senate leader through the Trump era, should remain at the helm when they come into office in January.

"It’s about action," Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed told CNN on Nov. 5. "The question for us is, who are the other options here and who is going to get us to a point where we’re passing legislation, putting it on the president’s desk and forcing him to make a decision."

Vital for Democrats, the incoming Michigan progressive said, is that they get things done so that "we can talk about what we did to address the affordability crisis."

El-Sayed’s comments come in the wake of his party’s stunning midterm results that saw them flip both the House of Representatives and the Senate, including in districts that had not sent a Democrat to Congress in generations. But the party fell short of a supermajority that would allow them to override the veto powers President Donald Trump has promised to use to block their legislation.

Incoming Democrats think they will need a strong leader to accomplish what they promised voters, and lately many in the party have soured on Schumer, a moderate who has been unable to stop Trump from reshaping the country. Among fights Democrats criticized the Senate minority leader for losing were efforts to stop the Elon Musk-driven operation to fire thousands of federal workers and Republican-backed cuts to health care subsidies that left millions of Americans paying more in insurance premiums.

"I think we need new blood in our party, in our politics," Sen.-elect James Talarico, the first Texas Democrat sent to the Senate since 1988, said in an interview in September when asked whether Schumer should still lead Democrats in the upper chamber. "That fresh perspective is necessary if we’re going to change the Democratic Party, if we’re going to change this government so it actually serves people again."

Asked after the election about the apparent lack of confidence among newly elected Democrats, Schumer appeared unfazed.

"The issue is not me, I’ll be reelected as majority leader," the New York Democrat told reporters. "The issue is focusing on the American people and what they want."

Schumer promised that his top priority will be ending Trump’s war on Iran, which has caused gas prices to skyrocket and driven up inflation. He also promised to investigate "corruption" in the White House.

"We are going to work hard to drive costs down with the president or without him. Period," Schumer said.  

USA TODAY has reached out to Schumer’s office for further comment.

Others unsupportive of Schumer include Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, the Kansas megachurch founder who will be the state’s first Democratic senator in 94 years.

"I mean no disrespect for Chuck Schumer but we need new leadership," Hamilton previously told CNN. "In Kansas, Chuck Schumer’s a liability for Democrats, and we’ve got to have leaders that can unite us, bring us together, not just as Democrats but bring together Democrats and Republicans to solve real problems."

Sen.-elect Juliana Stratton, the new senator from deep-blue Illinois, was also unsupportive of Schumer, saying in a Nov. 5 interview, "I have certainly made it very clear that it’s time for new leadership in the Senate."

It’s unclear who would take Schumer’s place. El-Sayed said he would support Sen. Chris Van Hollen, known for his firm stance against Trump’s immigration agenda. But the Michigan progressive was doubtful that the Maryland Democrat would want the job. 

"I’ve been very clear, I think he’d be an amazing Senate majority leader," El-Sayed said. But "it seems like he’s quite interested in another goal politically."

Van Hollen is among Democrats some expect could try to make a run for the presidency in 2028.