Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced Thursday he will challenge Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader — a leadership shuffle that will do exactly nothing for the Americans getting crushed by inflation, an open border, and a surveillance state both men have helped build.
The race, to be decided by secret ballot in early December, is the first contested Democratic leadership election in decades. But the contest is between two longtime Washington operators who have collectively spent more than 60 years in Congress. Van Hollen, 67, arrived in the House in 2003 and moved to the Senate in 2016. Schumer, 75, has been in Congress since 1981. Neither man has delivered for the working class they now claim to champion.
Van Hollen framed his bid as a response to voters demanding change. "It wasn't only a rejection of Donald Trump and his corruption and his wars and his cruelty," Van Hollen told Jen Psaki, according to Breitbart. "It was also about a call for a larger change to take on a broken economic system that's rigged in favor of the very wealthy against working people."
Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017, responded within minutes on social media: "I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader." He told the Associated Press last week: "I'm going to win it."
The establishment press is treating this as a genuine ideological clash. The Guardian called it a battle between "a progressive Democrat" and "a centrist." NPR framed it as a "fresh debate over the future" of the party. The New York Post labeled Van Hollen a "Lefty Dem." What none of them mention: both men vote the same way on the spending bills that fuel inflation, the reauthorizations that expand surveillance, and the border measures that go unenforced.
According to NBC News, Van Hollen plans to run on ending the Iran war using the upcoming government funding fight, reversing Trump's "big, beautiful bill," and getting money out of politics. Conspicuously absent from that platform: any serious plan to secure the border, rein in the intelligence apparatus, or stop the deficit spending that is eating away at every working American's paycheck.
Schumer's grip on the caucus has weakened. Bernie Sanders said he will oppose him. Michigan's Elissa Slotkin told reporters, "I am seeking change." Incoming senators Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota and Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed have also expressed opposition. But Schumer still counts public support from Ruben Gallego, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Maryland's Angela Alsobrooks.
The real question neither candidate will answer: after a combined six decades in Washington, what exactly have either of them done to break the rigged system Van Hollen now complains about? Schumer raised money and recruited candidates. Van Hollen made headlines lobbying for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison. Neither accomplishment lowers a grocery bill or secures a single mile of border.
The secret ballot means senators can vote their conscience without consequence — convenient for a chamber that never wants the public to know where anyone stands. Democrats will hold 55 or 56 seats in the new Congress. The only certainty is that whichever man wins, the permanent Washington class keeps its grip on power.
