Senate Democrats just won a majority bigger than they even imagined. Now they’re going straight into a divisive leadership fight.
First, though, a thought for all the Democratic staff assistants who will be answering Senate office phones this month.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s announcement Thursday night, making his rumored challenge to longtime Democratic leader Chuck Schumer official, sets up an intense weekslong pressure campaign.
The dozens of Democratic senators who have been lying low, hoping to avoid a contested race as the party base clamors for new leadership, will now find it harder to hide.
Van Hollen made his calculation plain in an MS NOW interview after he made his announcement: “People will have to make a decision one way or the other.”
That threatens to publicly divide the caucus — and risks frustrating colleagues — at an otherwise triumphant moment. Senate Democrats began discussing their agenda for their first days in the majority this week in hopes of hitting the ground running in January. Now they are staring down weeks of attention on other matters.
Democrats are already discussing if they can short-circuit a drawn out leadership fight by moving up their leadership elections to next week, two people granted anonymity to disclose private talks.
Otherwise, the secret-ballot election will take place on Dec. 1.
The math as we know it still favors Schumer. Several have vowed publicly they will support him, and several more who were offered anonymity to avoid backlash have told POLITICO in recent weeks they back the incumbent leader as well.
Schumer said for the first time Thursday night, “I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader,” as Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Angus King of Maine also made their support public.
Van Hollen acknowledged on MS NOW that he is the “underdog” in the race but said he had more than 10 commitments among the 55 Democrats who will vote (56 if Mary Peltola holds her lead in Alaska).
Two of the biggest names on the left — Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan — jumped behind Van Hollen after his announcement.
The Maryland senator, in so many words, pressed MS NOW viewers to burn up the Senate phone lines and pad his whip count.
“I think the American people want to see a little bit more democracy in the Senate Democratic Caucus,” he said.
What else we’re watching:
— DEMOCRATS PREP FOR SENIORITY SHOWDOWN: A fight is brewing among House Democrats over the tenure-based system for committee leadership roles. Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.) is pitching that “subcommittee leaders be chosen based on merit, not seniority alone.” That could be seen as an incremental alternative to a more controversial proposal from Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) that would impose a four-term limit on full committee chairs.
— MORAN VS. MURKOWSKI: Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) says he’s “pursuing” a bid for the top GOP spot on the Senate Appropriations Committee — leapfrogging more senior Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). He has until early January to decide whether he’ll force a vote among Republican appropriators, after which the full GOP conference will need to decide whether to accept that choice or tell members of the committee to pick someone else.
Jordain Carney, Riley Rogerson and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
