Schumer, Who’s More Unpopular Than Trump, Gets a Challenger for Majority Leader

Trump has hit record low approval ratings during his second term, but even fewer Americans approve of Schumer.

By Sharon Zhang, truthout

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) announced on Thursday that he is running for Senate majority leader, posing competition for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York), who is one of the most unpopular congressional leaders this century with an approval rating even lower than Donald Trump’s.

Van Hollen announced that he is vying for the seat in an interview with MS NOW on Thursday evening, saying that voters have handed Democrats a “generational opportunity for the Senate to respond to the call of the American people for change.”

In the half-hour interview about his platform, Van Hollen called for a break from the status quo, saying that he backs numerous progressive populist priorities, like “get[ting] rid of super PACs,” refusing AIPAC funding, and “tak[ing] on a broken economic system that’s rigged” against the working class.

Van Hollen and Democratic advocacy groups have called for the process of choosing a leader to be more democratic, creating a space for the caucus to come together to lay out a plan for the new Congress and have debates on what that may look like. Schumer, on the other hand, has spent the last week speaking as though his leadership is a foregone conclusion.

“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” said Schumer in a statement after Van Hollen’s announcement. “I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader. I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”

It’s currently unclear whether or not Van Hollen has the votes to win. He has the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), one of the most popular politicians in the U.S., and numerous freshman senators who have called for new leadership.

However, polling has found that the public is ready for new leadership in the Democratic Party.

Schumer, who has been the Senate Democratic leader for nearly a decade, is extremely unpopular. NBC polling done late last month found that only 13 percent of voters view Schumer positively, compared to 53 percent who view him negatively — a 40-point gap. This is even worse than Trump’s dismal approval ratings, which have hit new lows in his second term; that same poll found that 60 percent of people disapprove of Trump while only 40 percent approve, a 20-point gap.

Other polls have yielded similar results. A poll by The Economist/YouGov found earlier this month that 54 percent of voters view Schumer unfavorably, compared to 23 percent who view him favorably — giving him a -31-point rating. That poll found that more voters disapprove of Trump, but also that more voters approve of him, at 62 percent to 36 percent, respectively, giving him a -26-point rating.

Schumer is also one of the most unpopular congressional leaders in recent history. According to Gallup polling, 67 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Schumer’s performance in December 2025, compared to 28 percent who approved. This is far lower than his approval rating in 2021, when Schumer had 44 percent approval, and 53 percent disapproval.

Between Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California), Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota), and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), only McConnell had worse favorability at any point in his leadership than Schumer, Gallup found. In his last year as leader of the Senate Republicans, McConnell had a 71 percent disapproval rating, compared to 27 percent approval in 2023.

Voters are hungry for change. Polling by Reuters/Ipsos in June 2025 found that the vast majority of Democrats, 62 percent, want the party leaders to be replaced, with only 24 percent saying the leaders should stay the same.

This may be due, in part, to Schumer’s opposition to many of the populist progressive policies that Van Hollen extols. Last year, he taunted Trump for not being more aggressive against Iran and twice folded on a government shutdown while extracting little to no concessions from Republicans on issues like ICE funding. He is a staunch supporter of Israel, including amid its genocide in Gaza, and has not backed proposals like Medicare for All; rather, in recent months, he has backed the pro-data center legislation currently advancing through Congress.