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“Active listening mode” is over. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen will contest New York Sen. Chuck Schumer for the post of Senate Majority Leader.
Speaking Thursday evening on MS NOW’s “The Briefing With Jen Psaki,” the Democrat in his second term said he was “answering the call” for a change in the leadership of the upper body of Congress, reflected in the seismic political shift of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
“This is not about any one individual, but it is about answering the call of the American people. We saw a huge outburst of democracy on Election Day, red states, blue states, purple states, and it wasn’t only a rejection of Donald Trump and his corruption, 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, and it’s fueled by a corrupt political system. The call was really to reject the status quo and to reject business as usual,” he said. “And to do that, I think we need new leadership.” Van Hollen, 67, had previously said he was in “active listening mode,” presumably taking the temperature of other senators and advisers, and assessing the likelihood of winning the post from Schumer, who was previous majority leader from 2021 until 2025.
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