Schumer faces skepticism over majority leader role
Chuck Schumer is confident he’ll continue leading Senate Democrats after they captured the chamber’s majority in dramatic fashion on Tuesday. Not all Democrats are so sure.
During a post-election gathering Saturday in Washington, DC, two Senate Democrats — Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — declined to back Schumer for the job, and Slotkin said she would not rule out running herself. A third Senate Democrat who appeared at the conference, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, said he planned to support Schumer but echoed calls for Senate Democrats “to do things differently than we’ve done before.”
“There should be no coronation of the next Democratic leader,” Van Hollen said. “I’ve said very clearly that we need to have a discussion in the Democratic caucus, we need to understand what the Democrats are going to do with this new responsibility and these new powers, and nobody should get a blank check without a full understanding of the caucus as to where we’re going to go.”
0:00 Senators and incoming freshman are not immediately backing Schumer
2:56 The panel discusses the skepticism
4:45 The speakership vote is ‘painfully public’
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