Good Friday evening. In this edition: Van Hollen challenges Schumer for Senate majority leader, setting up intraparty clash.
Plus, FAA ground stop, Boebert and Mamdani–Trump deal.
Senate Leadership Race
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) announced he will challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for majority leader in the 120th Congress, arguing that voters demanded change — not a return to the "status quo" — when they swept Democrats back into power in the midterm elections.
"It's our job, all of our jobs, to show the American people that we heard them and that we're going to act," he said at a Democratic conference in Denver. "And that work? It begins in the United States Senate."
Sen. Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017, responded by welcoming a debate about the party's future while expressing confidence that he has enough support to retain his position.
"I'm proud of what we've accomplished together — 55 seats and counting is an amazing result — and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader," he said in a statement. "I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people."
The challenge sets up the first contested election for Senate Democratic leader in decades, with members of the caucus expected to cast secret ballots in early December.
Sen. Van Hollen acknowledged that he is the "underdog" in the race, while Sen. Schumer has been meeting individually with Democratic senators to shore up support for his leadership and to develop an agenda for the new Congress.
Sen. Van Hollen rejected suggestions that his challenge would undermine party unity, arguing that voters had rejected President Trump's policies but had not necessarily "fully hired" Democrats.
"Trump's policies have been fired but we are still in the position where we need to take advantage of this opportunity," he told reporters. "I don't think you can close the trust deficit by simply returning to the status quo or to business as usual."
Sen. Van Hollen, who previously chaired both the House and Senate Democratic campaign committees, has called for a more aggressive economic agenda and pledged to keep party leadership out of contested Democratic Senate primaries.
His proposals include restoring Medicaid funding cut by Republicans, extending Affordable Care Act tax credits, raising the minimum wage and preventing the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) from accepting contributions from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.
The leadership contest follows months of criticism of Sen. Schumer from progressive Democrats, particularly over his decision to help advance a Republican government funding bill in March 2025 and the party's involvement in contested Senate primaries.
Sen. Van Hollen has criticized the DSCC's involvement in Michigan's Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, who had received support from the party's campaign apparatus.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) have endorsed Sen. Van Hollen, while Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) said that she would not support Sen. Schumer and had held "good conversations" with his challenger.
"I've been open that I'm not voting for Sen. Schumer. I'll have more to say about this next week," Sen. Slotkin told reporters in Denver. "I'm glad to see there's more people getting in the race."
Other Democrats, including Sen. Angus King (I-ME), Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) and Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown (OH), have announced their support for Sen. Schumer, crediting his leadership with helping the party regain control of the chamber.
"Chuck has outlined an aggressive plan for the new Democratic majority which is directly responsive to the message we heard from the voters, and he has the experience and unique mastery of the Senate process to make it happen," Sen. King said in a statement. "Why would you fire the manager when you just won the World Series?"
Sen. Van Hollen said he had spoken with Sen. Schumer about his leadership bid and that both understood it would be a competition, reiterating his argument that Democrats should embrace the change voters demanded.
"I think it's important to give Senate Democrats a choice," he told reporters. "That's what we just gave voters all over the country, a choice. They chose change and I think that the Democratic caucus needs to be open to new ideas, a different way of governing, and a different way of conducting and approaching politics."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights Friday afternoon, citing "extraordinary circumstances" and safety concerns without immediately explaining the cause. The order halted departures at airports across the country until further notice, with inbound international flights being handled on a case-by-case basis. It marks only the third nationwide ground stop in FAA history, following a computer system outage in January 2023 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), the conservative firebrand, lost her bid for reelection in Colorado's 4th Congressional District to Democrat Eileen Laubacher, according to the Associated Press, which called the race Friday. Ms. Laubacher, a retired Navy rear admiral and former National Security Council official, will become the first Democrat elected to represent the heavily Republican district since 2008. Rep. Boebert, who was first elected to Congress in 2020, switched to the more conservative 4th District in 2024 after narrowly winning reelection in her original district by just 546 votes in 2022. She has not conceded, and her campaign has raised the possibility of a recount. Democrats have now won 256 seats in the House, compared with 169 for Republicans, with 10 races still to be called.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) announced that he had reached a deal with President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to delay enforcement of new federal requirements for stores participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by 90 days. The rules require retailers to stock a greater variety of staple foods, raising concerns that bodegas and convenience stores could lose their ability to accept SNAP benefits if they failed to comply. Mayor Mamdani, who had initially sought a six-month delay, said the extension would apply nationwide, giving small businesses more time to meet the requirements.
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