7 Senator-elects aren't backing Schumer as majority leader so far

And the question to me is who wants to be  the leader who's going to make sure that we. deliver on the mandate that we just got. Um I  want to see who else is in the running. I have. been very very committed to somebody like Senator  Chris Van Holland who I know has his eyes set on. uh other goals. Uh but let's see. Chuck Schumer is  seen as a more divisive figure by many people and. uh and I think we need somebody who's going to  bring us together and somebody who's going to, you know, somebody who's going to come with  fresh ideas to what we're doing. I still very. much believe that it's time for generational  change on both sides of the aisle. Now comes.

perhaps the hardest part, governing. First order  of business, deciding who will lead them. At. least five incoming senators say they will not  back Chuck Schumer Schumer as Senate Majority. Leader. Democratic members of Congress are being  inundated with calls not to elect minority House. leader Hakee Jeff to Speaker of the House. CNN's  Patrick Zvite is following all of this for us. What are you learning this morning, Patrick? Well,  look, there's no question about it that Chuck. Schumer is the heavy favorite here. I mean, first  of all, he doesn't have any declared opposition,

and he only needs majority support from  the caucus. But we continue to hear from. a faction of returning Senate Democrats and  incoming freshmen uh that they're not ready. to at least immediately back Schumer for majority  leader. And this is all part of the post-election. conversation. Uh that shows that even though  Democrats had sweeping victories in the midterms, they're still not entirely unified on who they  want to lead them and whether they're confident. that that person is going to be aggressive enough  in pushing back against President Donald Trump in.

his final two years. Um I mentioned some of those  incoming freshmen. Let's take a listen to what. they had to say over the weekend about Schumer.  Why would you not support Schumer now? Well, to me it's about action, right? It's not about who  or who not. It's about action. If we have another. option, I'm going to look at that and say, who is  best placed to get us action to get money out of. politics, put money in pockets, pass Medicare for  all. I mean, no, no disrespect for uh for Chuck. Schumer. I and I've told him that, you know, I  I mean no disrespect for you. I think there's. many Americans, Democrats and Republicans,  who are saying, "Look, we need we need fresh.

leadership in the Senate." And I would say for  the Senate majority in the Democratic party, I still very much believe that it's time for  generational change on both sides of the aisle. Now, talking about those other options that  Elsa mentioned, right now there are no other. options. One of the potential candidates, Maryland  Senator Chris Van Holland, said over the weekend. here in Washington that there should be quote no  coronation for Schumer. But when I talked to him.

afterward, he suggested that he himself was  unlikely to run for the position. Also this. weekend, Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin said  she was not ready to immediately back Schumer. and she even did not rule out running herself.  And so clearly this is a very fluid situation. uh even if Schumer is feeling pretty confident  right now that he will return to lead Senate. Democrats. Yeah, you make a good point. If  there's nobody else that's up for the job, then what do Democrats do? Elsa Ed ends up going  on to say though that you know a a choice here.

would have to be between other people and who  would those other uh people be. No one else has. announced to run against Chuck Schumer. Meanwhile,  Schumer last week uh in the New York Times giving. a really extended interview talking about how  he was the one who went out there and recruited. people like shared Brown to to run. And so, you  know, really giving himself credit there for all. the victories that they had across the country  that even allowed this to be possible. Well, here's uh Alyssa Slotkin at Crooked Con,  which is the Crooked Media uh festival,

I guess. Here she is on Saturday. Why don't  you run for Senate Majority Leader? Well, look, I think we're we're quite literally on text chains  right now, still counting the votes in Alaska and. Mississippi, but I think this is like it's an open  field. I don't have any big announcements to make, but those conversations are happening  right now. Okay. On the House side, Axios reporting that House Democrats are being  quote inundated with anti-Jeff calls. I want to. talk about this because I when the squad entered  their freshman year and it was they're going to.

take down Pelosi, right? Generational change.  A different AOC today. Here is what she said on. Friday. I cannot. I already ran for a leadership  position and failed. Um because these are secret. ballots in which you need to get the entire  Democratic caucus to vote for you. Like the. your electorate is House Democrats and the vote  is not public. what makes you successful in that.

kind of realm is very different um than being  publicly popular. A lesson learned. Yeah. Well, and thing about the speakerhip vote too, as we  know, as from Kevin McCarthy's experience, it is. painfully public. And this is where the width and  breadth of the victory that Democrats experienced. on Tuesday gave uh both Jeff and Schumer,  frankly, a lot more padding. We were we were.

talking before the election that well, we have  such narrow margins in the majority. If it flips, it could be very narrow. If the polling was all  wrong, that would have g given the progressive, the DSA side a lot more leverage in that caucus  and conference. But because we looking at 253, 256 seats right now in the House, still some, you  know, dozen races not even called. There's it goes. back to what you said earlier. If not them, then  who? There are no declared opponents to these to. to Pelosi or to Schumer or to uh Jeff. And so  there's you can't beat something with nothing.

And until a viable candidate were to emerge, say,  "Yes, I'm challenging them," which is not going. to happen, they're going to get in there. I mean,  well, sorry. I was say when it comes to Jeffre, I interviewed him a few weeks before the election  and he we talked about the the DSA in in this. interview, and he started reaching out to them  weeks before this. I mean, after Democrats won. their primary. Yes. And famously met with Jared  Kushner, which also spurred this conversation. about people not wanting him to Sure. There's  the there's the there's the Jared Kushner thing, but in terms of the DSA or DSA adjacent folks, he  reached out and called these Democrats who won,

including in areas where he had endorsed somebody  else to try and start paving the way for this when. this conversation eventually happened. And  so I think there's a there's at least a hope. inside of Democratic leadership that maybe some  of that that will die down. The question is how. do Democrats interpret their mandate? Right. It's  it's tech it's actually what Abdul sayed asked. but it seems you know they could make the same  mistake that President Trump did right interpret.

the voters giving the metaphorical middle finger  to the incumbent party in power by saying oh we. should end all skilled legal immigration right  and like Jeff talking about that yet Jeff over. like the weekend is saying his day one agenda  reversing the Medicaid reforms that's a $1.4. 4 trillion dollar cost over a decade, right?  Reversing the SNAP reforms, quarter trillion. dollar cost, extending ACA subsidies, half a  trill, like looking at a $5 trillion agenda. And.

each one of those things is a thing that affects  a household kitchen table, right? You're talking. about SNAP through the inflation that it creates  with extra trillion spending. SNAP benefits is I'm. going to the grocery store. Healthcare is a thing  they ran on. So all I'm not saying you're wrong. What I'm saying is he's they're going after their  electorates pocketbook concerns and that's where. they would be interpreting the mandate correctly  and these are things that would be wildly popular. in the Democratic conference which would shore  up his standing as the likely speaker. But there.

is if the if the inflation continues to go up  which Republicans care about inflation I mean. I've never stopped caring. It's it's why I've you  know endorsed things like the I'm saying the not. you specifically. Republicans, the White House,  the members of Congress, the people who've been. voting non-stop. Donald Trump's never been a debt  hawk and he's never pretended to be on on lowering. inflation. Hold on one second, you guys, because  they haven't started. None of your things you've. said exist yet. We're still trying to figure out  where Trump is going, where the Democrats are.