The Democratic leadership revolt has a glaring problem
· Axios
The Republican leadership fights are over. For Democrats, the pain has only just begun.
Why it matters: All the talk about changing party leadership is empty if no one steps up to run.
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- Senate Republicans demanded more time and deeper conversations about their leadership, but no one stepped forward to challenge John Thune, who won by acclamation.
- Democrats are demanding their own conversations about the party's future and the leadership of Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. Neither has a challenger.
‼️ The intrigue: Where there was a contested leadership fight, the challenger won.
- Rep. Jim Jordan, the Freedom Caucus founding member who spent years tormenting Republican leaders, will now lead the battered House GOP after defeating 12-year leadership veteran Rep. Steve Scalise by 33 votes.
- Jordan is the kind of fighter House Republicans want to take on Democrats as they enter the minority, lawmakers told Axios.
- "We're gearing up for war. And you're talking to a guy who's known as a hammer. You know we need someone who can punch hard, and I think that he'll do that," Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) told Axios.
🤺 Zoom in: No such fighter has emerged to challenge Democratic leaders from within their ranks, and Schumer said he is "confident I will be elected majority leader."
- The closest thing to a challenge is Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who's listening to calls to run for Democratic leader while also considering a presidential campaign. It's hard to do both.
- Meanwhile, opposition to Schumer is building: "[T]he time is now for change," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Tuesday. He appeared with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who said she's not "actively seeking the job" but demanded a plan for change.
🏛️ Over in the House, Jeffries is dismissive of the idea that anyone would challenge him after the midterms gave him a massive majority.
- "You think I don't have the vote nailed down? I guess we'll find out next Wednesday," he told reporters on Monday.
- Some of his new members are signaling that they're not afraid to defy their new leaders. Rep.-elect Don Leonard (D-Ohio) said it "aches" his heart to potentially oppose the first Black speaker, "but Rome is burning."
- But other new members are on Jeffries' side, like Reps.-elect Marni von Wilpert (D-Calif.), Denise Powell (D-Neb.) and Cait Conley (D-N.Y.).
🤝 Jeffries also has high-profile progressive incumbents on board, such as Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
- "There is one candidate in this race, Hakeem Jeffries, and I think that everyone is far more concerned about what that leadership means, what is it promising?" Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Tuesday.
Between the lines: Thune and Jordan don't have much of a relationship; Thune had left the House for the Senate two years before Jordan arrived.
What's next: Senators say they plan to be in the Capitol working on Veterans Day.
- Thune committed to working more days during the lame-duck session to ensure they leave no judge appointments behind, senators said.