Both progressives and moderates support Van Hollen's long-shot bid, bringing disputes over Israel and the Iran war into the leadership race

Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced Thursday that he would challenge Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to lead the Democratic majority, a long-shot bid that puts divisions over the party's direction, including the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship, at the center of a fight over who will lead the new Democratic majority.

Van Hollen framed his pitch in terms of generational change and economic issues. "We saw a huge outburst of democracy on Election Day," he told MS NOW on Thursday. "It wasn't only a rejection of Donald Trump and his corruption and his wars and his cruelty, 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."

Van Hollen, one of the Senate's most outspoken critics of Israel's conduct in Gaza, has drawn support from progressives frustrated with Schumer's leadership and with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.On MS Now, Van Hollen blasted Schumer for endorsing the AIPAC-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in her Michigan Democratic Senate primary against the eventual winner Abdul El-Sayed. "My view is that we shouldn't take any AIPAC money," Van Hollen said on MS NOW.

So far, only a handful of Democratic senators and senators-elect have said they would vote to oust Schumer as leader, including progressives like El-Sayed and Bernie Sanders, but also moderates like Elissa Slotkin, who said Schumer should make room for a younger generation of leaders.

El-Sayed, who won despite fierce opposition from the pro-Israel lobby, endorsed Van Hollen's bid on X, citing his "courage and experience." "We need both right now," El-Sayed said.

Van Hollen's leadership challenge comes as Congress weighs a major defense bill and as Democrats consider whether to force a government shutdown over funding for the Iran war. He and 12 other senators have called for stripping a provision from the defense bill that would mandate weapons co-production between the U.S. and Israeli militaries. Van Hollen also pledged to oppose any bill that would keep the government funded past Dec. 11 if it includes money for the Iran war.

Jewish Voice for Peace, the anti-Zionist group, launched a "No Schumer" campaign on Thursday saying that he was "wildly out of step with the majority of Democratic voters." "While Americans struggle to afford groceries, Schumer has voted to send billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars to keep arming Israel's genocide in Gaza," the organization wrote on X.

Both Schumer and Jeffries, who is not expected to face any serious challenge in his race for speaker, rose to leadership during an era of Democratic politics when the importance of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship was taken for granted.

Even as many Democratic voters shifted against Israel following the war in Gaza, Schumer remained a staunch supporter of Israel. "I have many jobs as leader," Schumer told a gathering of Jewish leaders in New York earlier this year. "One is to fight for aid to Israel." But Schumer has also broken with the Israeli government. He made waves in 2024 by calling for new elections to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah," he said.

He and Jeffries have also made regular appearances at AIPAC conferences, and Jeffries did not accept J Street's endorsement until last year. Jeffries has shown some flexibility as members of his caucus take a more aggressive posture toward Israel. As minority leader, he opposed an amendment to cut off U.S. aid to Israel in July, but did not whip votes against the measure and acknowledged that military aid to Israel needed a "meaningful change in direction" in a letter to the Democratic caucus.

The amendment failed, but more than 100 Democrats voted for it, including some stalwart supporters of Israel like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Hadar Susskind, CEO of New Jewish Narrative, a liberal pro-Israel group that is supporting Van Hollen's bid, said that even if Schumer wins the internal vote to remain leader in January, he must be prepared to reckon with the left-wing shift among Democrats.

"The starting point of the new Congress is going to be much, much, much more progressive," Susskind told Haaretz.