Chuck Schumer says he is running again to lead Senate Democrats even as progressive nominees refuse to endorse him and colleagues call for significant new leadership.

Fox News Digital reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is digging in to retain his post while several Democratic U.S. Senate nominees and sitting senators decline to commit support or openly urge a change at the top.

Schumer has led the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017, taking over from the late Sen. Harry Reid. After Democrats lost the Senate in the 2024 election, quiet questions about the leadership path began inside the party.

Those questions grew louder around government funding fights. Schumer refused to allow a shutdown early in President Donald Trump’s term, yet later could not stop fellow Democrats from breaking ranks to end the longest full government shutdown in history.

Progressive backlash intensified after Democrats backed the bipartisan deal that closed that standoff, with critics arguing the party gained little and that Schumer’s approach no longer works, as detailed in National Review coverage of the fallout.

Schumer himself struck a defiant note in a Politico interview, insisting he will stay put.

He told the outlet:

"I am running for re-election for leader," "Period."

He has also expressed confidence that Democrats have "wind in our sails" heading into the November midterms and will retake the Senate.

Not every Democrat on the ballot is ready to line up behind him. Kansas Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton, who is running against incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall in a race now viewed as a toss-up, reiterated this week that he will not support Schumer for leader whether Democrats hold the majority or the minority.

Hamilton explained his stance to CBS News without personal attacks, focusing on the need for change.

He said:

"And no disrespect for him at all, it's just that I think we need new ideas," "We need new ideas, we need fresh leadership. I support term limits. I support age limits, and I just think there's a time where we need to have new and fresh leadership coming in, and I think this is one of those times."

Similar hesitation has come from other recent primary winners. Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed and Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan both stayed noncommittal on Schumer during and after their victories earlier this year, even while welcoming dollars from the Senate Majority PAC, the committee closely aligned with the Democratic leader.

Fox News Digital reached out to both campaigns for further comment. El-Sayed has been described among progressives who see Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., as a possible replacement.

Van Hollen himself has declined to say whether he would challenge Schumer. Before leaving Washington last month he told reporters the midterms were "all I am focused on."

Sitting senators have added to the pressure. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., argued that Democrats are still reeling from 2024 and that the party’s old approach has failed.

Slotkin stated:

"That’s why I believe we need significant new leadership," "The old models are no longer working, and that includes the Democratic Party."

That Michigan dynamic tracks with earlier internal breaks, including when progressive forces clashed over primary endorsements in the state in ways that left Schumer’s preferred path exposed, a pattern visible in prior Democratic primary fights.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., likewise refused to discuss whether a midterm win would shore up Schumer’s position, saying only, "I’m not doing those questions now."

The shutdown episode that fueled much of the current anger lasted 41 days. Eight senators, including Dick Durbin, joined Republicans to end the impasse even as Schumer voted against the deal, prompting left-wing figures to accuse the leadership of a coordinated surrender and weak leverage on issues such as health-care subsidies, according to New York Post reporting.

Rep. Ro Khanna and others openly called for Schumer to step aside, citing the shutdown outcome and earlier funding votes. New York state Sen. James Skoufis mocked the result by saying his young daughter negotiates better deals on the playground. Michigan candidate Mallory McMorrow labeled the compromise a bad deal and said the old way of doing things is clearly not working, adding that the party needs new leaders.

Schumer’s earlier decision to fold in a prolonged Senate funding fight handed Republicans a clear political win after months of standoff, a moment that still colors how many Democrats judge his judgment under pressure and that was chronicled when Schumer folded on the shutdown.

No formal challenger has announced a leadership bid, and no Senate Democrat has publicly demanded Schumer resign. Yet the pattern of non-endorsements from nominees who take party PAC money, combined with pointed comments from Slotkin and others, shows the ground shifting beneath a leader who has held the job for nearly a decade.

Party cohesion problems have surfaced in other recent episodes as well. Schumer has found himself pleading with restive moderates to remain inside the tent while progressive energy pulls the other direction, a tension on display when he urged Fetterman to stay amid broader erosion.

Public optics have not always helped. A recent Senate floor moment that spread widely online only added to the sense that the longtime New York senator is struggling to project command, a difficulty noted in coverage of the viral Senate floor episode.

With the November midterms approaching and Republicans already worried the map could turn brutal, Schumer is betting that a Democratic wave will silence the doubters. The candidates who would serve under him, and several colleagues already in the chamber, are not yet ready to place that same bet.

Voters watching the party’s internal score-settling can see the real test: a leader who lost the majority, mishandled the longest shutdown on record, and now cannot lock down support from his own nominees is asking the country to trust the same old playbook one more time.