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The progressive advocacy group Indivisible on Wednesday called on Senate Democrats to replace Chuck Schumer as their leader, one day after the party won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
“Yesterday, voters made it very clear that they want a new generation of Democratic fighters,” the group wrote in a social media post, according to The Hill. “We need a leader in the Senate who is capable of leading that fight. It’s time for Senate Democrats to choose new leadership.”
The demand came from an outside advocacy group, not from within the Senate, and amounts to public pressure rather than any move to remove Schumer, who has led the Democratic caucus since 2017. He needs only a majority of the caucus – projected at 54 to 56 members – in leadership elections expected in early December, and no challenger has emerged.
Asked Wednesday morning about newly elected senators who said they would not back him, Schumer told reporters he expects to keep the job. “The issue is not me. I’ll be reelected as majority leader. But the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want,” he said.
Indivisible pointed to Schumer’s weak approval ratings, citing an NBC News poll conducted in late October that found only 13 percent of registered voters viewed his leadership positively. “The American people did not elect Democrats by historic margins just to bend the knee and go back to business as usual,” the group said in its statement. “Senate Democrats need to listen to the voters and turn the page on status quo politics.”
Several incoming Democratic senators, including Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine, Juliana Stratton of Illinois and Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, have said they would not support Schumer for leader, and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan has called for a “new generation” of party leadership.
JBizNews Desk | Washington
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