The latest conflict brewing in the Democratic Party’s cold war between the blue dogs and the insurgent progressive wing is the fight over its next congressional leaders. But with no alternate candidates stepping up to run, it’s hard to determine how real the threats to replace Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries actually are.
At least six incoming Democratic senators—including Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, South Carolina’s Annie Andrews, Minnesota’s Peggy Flanagan, Illinois’s Juliana Stratton, Kansas’s Adam Hamilton, and Maine’s Troy Jackson—have said they won’t support Schumer for majority leader. Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin has called for a “a new generation of leadership.” Even Cory Booker, who praised Schumer for helping engineer last week’s blue wave, stopped short of saying whether he would support him. On Monday, Richard Blumenthal did the same. And Jon Stewart said that the senator “does not understand the urgency of the moment and what the future demands.” Regardless, Schumer is confident. His aides say he has enough votes to become the next majority leader.
In the House, several incoming Democrats—including Claire Valdez, Angela Gonzalez-Torres, Darializa Avila Chevalier, Melat Kiros, Adam Hamawy, Chris Rabb, and Donavan McKinney—have been noncommittal with their support for Jeffries, while Ohio democrat Don Leonard has threatened to seek alternative leadership unless Jeffries changes his position on Israel.
There’s an online effort to prevent Jeffries from becoming Speaker of the House. A change.org petition demanding that House Democrats reject Jeffries as their next Speaker has attracted more than 1 million signatures as of Sunday, with actor Mark Ruffalo among those encouraging people to sign. But scroll to the bottom of the petition, and you’ll find a disclosure: Its creator, Nicole Whitted, is a paid “Change Ambassador” who receives compensation from change.org in connection with the signatures. “Thousands of organizations and brands worldwide run similar programs and in the social-cause space specifically, it’s a way to encourage people with reach and influence to use their voice for causes they care about,” Whitted told Vanity Fair in a statement.
Whitted also said she was traveling to Washington, DC next week to urge congresspeople to vote against Jeffries, and to meet with Representative Ayanna Pressley, whom Whitted told VF she’ll be supporting for Speaker. Pressley’s team did not respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment sent on Sunday. Neither did her closest congressional allies, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or Ilhan Omar.
Reports indicate that some congresspeople have been flooded with calls from constituents urging them to find new party leadership. But one Democratic aide told Vanity Fair that they’ve noticed what they claim is a coordinated effort to undermine Jeffries on social media, including AI-generated videos attacking Jeffries that have gotten tens of thousands of engagements.
