Over a week after Democrats rode a historic wave of support to retake the United States Congress, divisions within the party seem to be threatening to undermine its newfound political momentum.
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divisions → ride → momentum
Despite growing calls for a change in Congressional leadership, Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries appear likely to remain at the helm of their respective US Senate and House caucuses.
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Schumer → grow → caucuses
3US Senator Chris Van Hollen seeks to lead Democrats: Who is he?
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he → seek → Democrats
- list 3 of 3Will Democrats try to strip US-Israel initiative from Pentagon funding?
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Democrats → try → funding
After amassing the most Democratic power in Washington since 2009, the two New Yorkers are seeking to retain their leadership positions as their party prepares to take control of both chambers in January.
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party → amass → January
Schumer, the US Senate’s 75-year-old minority leader, is vying to lead Democrats’ new majority in the chamber, a post he previously held during Joe Biden’s presidency.
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he → vie → presidency
On the other side of the US Capitol, the 56-year-old Jeffries, as the current minority leader in the US House, is seeking the top role of speaker, placing him second in the line of succession for the US presidency.
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Jeffries → seek → presidency
But the prospect of keeping Schumer and Jeffries in charge has frustrated some Democrats, exposing long-running tensions between Democratic lawmakers who want to maintain continuity and those who believe their midterm victories offer an opportunity to fundamentally reshape the party’s priorities.
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victories → keep → priorities
Here’s why Schumer and Jeffries could prevail:
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Schumer → ’ → ?
An election victory buys political goodwill
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victory → buy → goodwill
Perhaps the biggest reason the top two Democrats in the US Congress will hold onto their posts: the party’s massive electoral gains.
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Democrats → hold → posts
Schumer’s supporters argue he helped Democrats secure at least eight Republican-held Senate seats, including victories in traditionally conservative states.
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Democrats → argue → states
The party is poised to hold as many as 56 seats in the next Congress, giving it a substantial majority not seen since former President Barack Obama’s first term in office.
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party → poise → office
“When the manager takes you to the World Series, you give him another contract”, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, with Schumer by his side, told reporters on Tuesday.
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Gallego → take → Tuesday
Schumer also played a central role in recruiting candidates who could compete in states where Democrats have struggled in recent elections, including former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
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Democrats → play → Brown
Adam Jentleson, a longtime US Senate aide and author of, Supermajority: How Democrats Can Build Lasting Power, argued Schumer’s electoral success makes it difficult for critics to mount a successful challenge.
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critics → build → challenge
“It’s hard to argue with somebody who just oversaw the biggest election the Democrats have had since Watergate,” Jentleson said during an interview with public radio station WBUR earlier this month.
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Jentleson → ’ → WBUR
“The only people who matter are the members of the Democratic caucus,” Jentleson said, explaining that lawmakers who had recently benefitted from the midterm results would have little incentive to remove the person who helped deliver those victories.
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who → matter → victories
Schumer’s allies have made a similar argument.
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allies → make → argument
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who oversees the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, credited Schumer’s candidate recruitment and fundraising efforts for helping the party reclaim the US Senate.
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party → oversee → Senate
“That takes vision.
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That → take → vision
It takes clarity of thought.
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It → take → thought
It takes strategic leadership,” she said.
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she → take → leadership
Schumer himself has expressed confidence that he has enough support to retain the position.
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he → express → position
In an interview with The Washington Sun on Wednesday, he said he had secured more than enough backing from his colleagues.
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he → say → colleagues
“I am going to be elected leader, OK, and we’re united on the issues,” Schumer told the Sun.
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Schumer → go → Sun
“We’re united.”
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We → ’re → ?
Schumer faces a challenge
Not every Democrat believes last week’s victories are enough to anoint Schumer as the party’s leader in the Senate in the next Congress.
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victories → face → Congress
Senator Chris Van Hollen announced on Thursday he would mount a challenge for the role after factions of the Democratic base, particularly progressives, have called for new leadership.
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factions → announce → leadership
The Maryland Democrat attracted attention at the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term after he travelled to El Salvador to meet with his constituent, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been deported to the country despite a judge’s ruling barring his removal.
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who → attract → removal
That, according to a senior Senate Democratic aide who spoke with Al Jazeera, exemplified “the fight Schumer just doesn’t have”.
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Schumer → accord → fight
“This is not about any one individual, but it is about answering the call of the American people,” Van Hollen said during a Thursday appearance on MSNOW, adding that US voters sent a message to “reject the status quo and to reject business as usual”.
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voters → answer → business
Another Senate aide, who would only speak on condition of anonymity to talk freely about an internal matter, suggested Van Hollen’s bid may be more about extracting concessions from Schumer, like a promise to serve as a short-term “bridge” to a new generation of Democratic leadership.
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bid → speak → leadership
An analysis by Al Jazeera showed that 12 Democratic senators have publicly committed to backing Schumer in next month’s leadership election.
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senators → show → election
At least 10 senators, including independent Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, have said they will not.
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they → include → Democrats
However, only half of those opposed to Schumer’s leadership have backed Van Hollen’s challenge.
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half → oppose → challenge
In an interview with The Nation published on Wednesday, the Vermont independent senator acknowledged knowing Schumer for decades and even liking him personally.
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senator → publish → him
But he argued that personal relationships should not determine who leads the party.
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who → argue → party
“In this moment in American history, Chuck’s views are way out of touch with where the American people are at — and especially with where [the base of] the Democratic Party is,” Sanders said.
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Sanders → say → Party
He added that Schumer was not in tune with Democratic voters on the issues, arguing the party needed a new and more ambitious direction.
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin has also questioned Schumer’s leadership, calling for a concrete plan outlining how Democrats intend to use their newly won congressional power.
Slotkin went further on Tuesday, suggesting to reporters at the US Capitol that senators withhold a quorum — the minimum number of lawmakers required to conduct official business — if Schumer runs unopposed, until he presents a plan that gives members a meaningful voice in setting the party’s priorities.
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock has also declined to commit to supporting Schumer, telling CNN on Tuesday that Democrats are at an “inflection point” and any senator who believes they should lead deserves an opportunity to make their case.
Still, there is a difference between public dissatisfaction and the votes needed to remove a leader.
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they → add → leader
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
