Sen. Bernie Sanders said Tuesday he will not vote to keep Chuck Schumer as the Senate Democratic leader. “The time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck,” Sanders said, adding that he has known Schumer for more than 30 years.
The Vermont independent is the most prominent senator yet to break with the New York Democrat, but he is not the first voice. Juliana Stratton, Illinois’s lieutenant governor and its incoming senator, told reporters during her primary campaign that she would not support Schumer for another term as leader. After she won, she said: “My position hasn’t changed.” She will be one of the few Black members of a Senate majority that Democrats just won.
She is not alone in the incoming class. Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine and Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan have said they will not vote for Schumer. Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota has threatened not to back him. James Talarico of Texas has refused to commit. “I want new leadership,” El-Sayed said, “and I want leadership that is focused on getting money out of politics, putting money in your pocket, passing Medicare for All.”
Inside the current caucus, Sen. Elissa Slotkin has also called for new leadership without naming a replacement. Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he is “actively listening” to colleagues about a challenge but has not said he will run. Some Democrats are defending the leader: Sen. Ruben Gallego credited Schumer with the party’s 2026 victories. Schumer says he is confident he will be elected, and says his caucus is “really united” on its priorities.
Democrats gained at least seven Senate seats, with two races still being counted. The leadership election comes next month, so the new members will vote before they are sworn in.
Schumer’s defenders have a real argument: the party just won, and a leader who delivers a majority has earned some patience. But a majority is not an agenda. The leader decides which bills reach the floor, which nominees get a vote and how hard the caucus fights the filibuster. Black voters have asked for those things for years, on voting rights, policing, health coverage and the wages that decide whether a family stays housed. Several of the people who just won their seats say the man deciding the order of business is not the one to do it.
No one has yet stepped forward to run against him, which is Schumer’s best card. It is also the weakest reason to keep a leader. The caucus should hold a real contest next month, and the senators who campaigned on change should be made to say who they would put in his place.
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