Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a strident critic of the U.S.-Israel relationship, is mulling a bid to challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for the role of majority leader in the next Congress — a move that, at this point, seems unlikely to succeed.

Van Hollen told reporters on Tuesday he is “actively listening to people” about a potential majority leader bid. “We should not have a coronation,” he said. “We should not support anybody for leader without a very clear plan. As you know, there are many people who think change is required.”

Though Israel doesn’t seem to be the primary motivating factor for Van Hollen’s bid for majority leader, it is a major dividing line between Schumer and the senior senator from Maryland, as well as some other Democrats opposing Schumer. It is also one of the factors driving left-wing frustration with Democrats’ current Senate leader. 

A Van Hollen win would likely lead to a spate of anti-Israel legislation on the Senate floor. 

Van Hollen and his allies have been vague about why they want to oust the New York senator. Supporters and opponents of Schumer, and Schumer himself, have cited similar concerns and priorities for the incoming Democratic majority. Critics seem primarily motivated by appealing to anti-establishment public opinion, a view of Schumer as too moderate and ineffective against the Trump administration and anger at Schumer’s support of moderate candidates in several Democratic primaries in this midterms cycle.

“We have two members in that room, newly elected senators, who would not be there if Schumer and the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] had had their way. Schumer and the DSCC sided with the crypto industry and AIPAC against these candidates, and my strong view is only under very, very rare exceptions should the DSCC be weighing in,” Van Hollen said in one interview Tuesday.

While floating a potential challenge for majority leader, Van Hollen released a letter on Tuesday to Schumer and other congressional leaders urging the removal of U.S.-Israel cooperation programs from the 2027 defense policy bill.

The fight will also help Van Hollen and others raise their profiles ahead of potential 2028 presidential campaigns.

Israel policy has been a central issue for the outside figures who have spent months encouraging Van Hollen to run. The Maryland senator’s stock has risen in progressive circles as he became an outspoken critic of Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank. His support for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his public stand with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration deported to a notorious El Salvadoran prison, also boosted his profile with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Now, in urging Van Hollen to put his name forward, left-wing media figures have cited his stance on Israel: “The ‘left’ was inspired by Van Hollen’s willingness to stand up to his own party to do everything he could to stop American complicity in genocide,” Drop Site News founder Ryan Grim said Tuesday, responding to a commentator questioning why the left had become enamored with a figure like Van Hollen, who spent years in the House as a top lieutenant of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Popular furor and constituent pressure won’t necessarily swing the leadership vote — as exemplified by Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) easy reelection as Republican leader on Tuesday, despite facing the ire of the MAGA base.

Senate leadership votes are conducted in private, usually by secret ballot, among caucus members and require only a simple majority. They’re motivated more by internal caucus relationships and management skills, fundraising and campaign strategy prowess than by public appeal. 

Schumer has said he’s confident that he has the votes locked down.

Far-left figures have, for months, been planning to leverage a narrow Democratic majority to force Democratic leaders closer to their positions on issues including the U.S.-Israel relationship. But the substantial Democratic majorities in both chambers in the wake of the midterm elections have complicated those plans, giving Schumer more flexibility to shrug off challengers in the internal caucus process. 

And the Democratic gains in deep-red territory in the Senate will help Schumer bolster his case for why he should stay on as the party leader.

Many Senate Democrats have emphasized that Schumer is the only name in the running. Until Van Hollen or another candidate formally enters the race, it’s proving difficult to build open opposition to Schumer.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who said on Tuesday that he would back Van Hollen if he runs and that he will not support Schumer, cited Israel policy as one issue that he thinks the party needs to reexamine under new leadership. Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) was an early supporter of Van Hollen as a potential Schumer alternative.

“We need a serious debate about serious issues and about the future and the direction of the Democratic Party. Foreign policy is a very important part of that debate, in my view,” Sanders said at a Tuesday press conference. “The war in Iran is based on a lie, in my view. I think U.S. military aid to Israel is certainly a very sensitive subject among tens of millions of people. These are issues that have got to be debated and discussed.”

Sanders was joined at the press conference by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), another vocal advocate for changing leadership, though Slotkin did not endorse Van Hollen. The Michigan Democrat, who is also believed to be considering a 2028 presidential run, has long taken an anti-establishment stance when it comes to party leadership — she repeatedly opposed Pelosi’s speakership bids during her time in the House.

In the House, the sizable Democratic majority is also disrupting the plans of far-left members and activists, particularly the incoming Democratic Socialists of America-aligned “bloc,” to try to extract concessions from Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

Several of the Jeffries dissenters have been clear that an anti-Israel line is a condition of their support, such as Rep.-elect Don Leonard (D-OH), who claimed on Tuesday that he’d been threatened by senior Democrats for conditioning his support for Jeffries on ending U.S. support for Israel.

Jeffries’ sizable majority should make it easy for him to ignore the far-left’s demands — as long as he’s willing to potentially swallow some dissent in the public speaker vote on the House floor in January.

Far-left opponents to Jeffries have spent days bombarding congressional offices with phone calls urging lawmakers to oppose him, but so far no alternative candidate has emerged, and other progressive figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are standing firmly with Jeffries.

Missteps by House Democrats this week, including the failure of an effort to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth due in part to attendance issues, have prompted greater scrutiny of Jeffries and his leadership team.

Left-wing activists began coalescing on Tuesday around Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), a founding member of the Squad, as their alternative choice for House speaker. A Pressley speakership — which is also highly unlikely — would likely herald a slew of anti-Israel legislation on the House floor. She’s an original co-sponsor of both the Block the Bombs Act and a resolution describing the war in Gaza as a genocide.

Pressley seems to be considering the possibility: she published a petition on Tuesday urging supporters to endorse “Ayanna’s Agenda,” laying out what the House Democrats’ priorities would be “if it were up to Ayanna Pressley.”