Sen. Chris Van Hollen is launching a bid for Senate majority leader, the Maryland Democrat announced Thursday evening on MS NOW’s “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”

“I am planning to run for the Senate majority leader, and let me tell you why,” Van Hollen told Psaki in a wide-ranging interview.

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“This is not about any one individual, but it is about answering the call of the American people,” he said. “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 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, led by a corrupt political system.”

Voters, Van Hollen said, sent a message on Election Day to “reject the status quo and to reject business as usual.”

“And to do that, I think we need new leadership,” he said.

The bid sets up a direct challenge to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a Capitol Hill institution who has led Senate Democrats for nearly a decade and has held a position in the party’s leadership for more than three decades. The election will take place in December.

Asked what had changed from last weekend, when Van Hollen suggested he was not particularly interested in a run for majority leader, Van Hollen pointed to “a generational opportunity for the Senate to respond to the call of the American people for change.”

“The scale and scope of this victory — 56 Senate Democratic seats — really gives us a mandate and the votes to do big things,” he told Psaki.

That count includes Alaska, where the Senate race has not yet been called but Democrat Mary Peltola holds a slight edge.

“But it should be very clear: While, you know, voters have rejected the Trump policies, they’ve not yet hired Democrats — they’ve given us a chance, we have to earn their trust,” Van Hollen said. “And my view is that you can’t earn that trust with old leadership. You need to move on to new leadership.”

‘Am I the underdog? Yes’

It’s an uphill battle. Van Hollen has served under Schumer for his entire Senate career: He arrived in the chamber in 2017, the same year Schumer became leader. The 67-year-old spent 14 years in the House before winning his Senate seat. And while he has repeatedly eyed leadership roles during his time on Capitol Hill, Van Hollen has never held one of the top three posts in either chamber.

Schumer, meanwhile, is a formidable opponent. He’s known for his fundraising prowess, relationship-building and experience going toe-to-toe with Trump. The political climate also favors Schumer. Democrats are riding high after their massive midterm victories, and many lawmakers may be wary of a leadership battle after such a strong election, particularly considering that Schumer recruited many of the successful candidates.

Van Hollen, for his part, acknowledged the steep climb.

“Am I the underdog? Yes,” he told Psaki. “You’re talking about an incumbent who uses the power of incumbency to, you know, provide deals to people.”

But Van Hollen said that was “part of the problem.”

“The American people want to see a little bit more democracy in the Senate Democratic Caucus,” he said. “We just had a great day for democracy around the country. We should have a little bit of democracy in the Senate Democratic Caucus.”

Schumer and his allies argue that the blue wave is his strongest selling point.

“When the manager takes you to the World Series, you give him another contract. And this has been a, you know, a really good election cycle for us,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said Tuesday. “At the end of the day, these are historic numbers. It’s time for us to unify.”

Van Hollen challenged that argument.

“It wasn’t orchestrated from Washington, D.C., or the DSCC — it was a people-powered movement,” Van Hollen said. “That’s why we won in places like South Carolina. That’s why we won in Mississippi.”

On policy, Van Hollen didn’t draw a sharp contrast with Schumer or embrace the progressive positions some of his supporters may have hoped to hear.

Instead, the clearest contrast he drew with Schumer was on primaries. Van Hollen said the caucus’ leader shouldn’t endorse in open-seat primaries, a dig at Schumer, who backed candidates in nominating contests this cycle.

Otherwise, Van Hollen kept his distance from progressive priorities. He cast doubt on Congress passing Medicare for All — “I don’t see us getting there all at once” — and he steered away from calls to impeach Trump.

“My view is we should not be focused on that at this point in time,” Van Hollen said

Schumer, for his part, has remained stoic amid the will-he-won’t-he speculation about Van Hollen. As he left the Capitol Thursday, MS NOW asked Schumer how he would fare against a challenger like Van Hollen and whether he was worried the Maryland Democrat might jump in.

Schumer ignored the question at first. Then, as he got into his car, he popped his head back out.

“I’m confident of winning the leadership contest,” Schumer said.

‘My view is this is very much in flux’

Senate Democrats won’t hold leadership elections until December, which gives both men time to make their case.

Winning requires a majority of the caucus, roughly 28 or 29 senators. Schumer’s aides told the New York Times over the weekend that he believes he already has the commitments he needs.

But the caucus votes behind closed doors by secret ballot, so senators can break with Schumer without doing so in public. And on Thursday, Van Hollen told Psaki he has more than 10 commitments of his own.

“I’ve talked to almost every member now, or at least tried to reach them, and I’ve gotten feedback from members of the caucus and my view is this is very much in flux,” Van Hollen told Psaki.

Publicly, at least six members of the incoming caucus have signaled that they won’t back Schumer. Four Democratic senators-elect campaigned against keeping Schumer as leader and repeated that position this week: Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, Troy Jackson of Maine, Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota and Adam Hamilton of Kansas. All won closely contested races last week.

El-Sayed and Flanagan have both named Van Hollen as a suitable alternative.

On Tuesday, Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., made headlines when they announced at a press conference that they wouldn’t back Schumer for leader.

Sanders, a progressive icon, was unequivocal. “I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader,” he told reporters.

Slotkin left the door open but made clear she isn’t sold on Schumer.

“Whoever wants my vote is going to have to show me a concrete plan that’s definitively different,” Slotkin said.

It wouldn’t be the first time Van Hollen has positioned himself as an underdog. The Maryland Democrat previously said he was “kicking the tires” on a presidential bid in 2028. As speculation swirled about a leadership challenge, some onlookers suggested it was really about raising his profile for a White House run.

On Thursday, Van Hollen said he was squarely focused on this end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

“I was thinking about jumping into the presidential race, and I made that clear,” Van Hollen told Psaki. “I now believe that we can collectively make the biggest difference by responding to this huge opportunity that the people have given us in the United States Senate.”

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