It’s Time to Replace Schumer and Jeffries

You vote for Democrats, donate what you can, and spend the weeks before an election asking people to turn out. When the party wins, you expect it to fight for the things that made you do all that work. Then leadership starts explaining which demands are too ambitious, which fights need to wait, and which incumbents everyone should rally behind.

Democrats have won both chambers of Congress. Chuck Schumer is positioned to become Senate majority leader again, and Hakeem Jeffries has asked his colleagues to support him for Speaker. I want Democrats to replace them. The moment to organize for that is before their colleagues give them control of the new majority.¹

Their relationship with AIPAC is one of my strongest reasons.

After the election, AIPAC publicly congratulated both men by name and promised continued support for politicians in either party who back its priorities. Jeffries’ financial relationship with the organization is documented too. Sludge’s review of federal filings found that AIPAC’s PAC routed more than $427,000 in donor contributions to his campaign and fundraising committees during the 2025–26 cycle.²

I want Democratic leaders who will end U.S. military support for Israel’s assault on Palestinians and make human rights a condition of American foreign policy. AIPAC’s approval tells me these two leaders represent a direction I want the party to leave behind. Its ability to support politicians across party lines also shows why simply electing more Democrats cannot be the whole goal. Who leads them and whose priorities they advance matter.

In March 2025, Schumer helped advance a Republican funding bill over objections from House Democrats. He argued that a shutdown would give Trump more room to damage the government. His decision helped Republicans move their bill forward while Democrats demanding a different agreement lost leverage.³

His judgment about candidates deserves scrutiny as well. Schumer backed Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. Abdul El-Sayed defeated her and went on to win the general election while running on Medicare for All and taxing billionaire wealth. Schumer supported El-Sayed after the primary, but voters had already rejected his preferred candidate. I want a Senate leader who helps build that kind of campaign from the beginning.⁴

Jeffries has made protecting incumbents a leadership commitment. In an April 2025 interview about primary challenges, he said he would support every Democratic incumbent across the party’s ideological range. I think an incumbent who has failed their constituents should face a serious challenge, and voters should be able to organize one without their own party leadership lining up against them.⁵

Now Jeffries wants to become Speaker. Asked this week about advancing Medicare for All, he pointed to reversing Medicaid cuts and extending Affordable Care Act tax credits as areas of agreement. Those policies would help people, but I want universal public coverage to be a goal the party organizes to achieve. I don’t support putting Jeffries in charge of deciding how far that effort can go.⁶

The leadership votes give Democratic members a chance to choose a different direction. We should use the time before those votes to make clear that we expect them to take it.

I want leaders committed to impeaching Trump and pursuing accountability throughout his administration. Congress should open impeachment inquiries, compel testimony, obtain the records, publish its findings, and bring articles of impeachment to a vote. Prosecutors should investigate criminal conduct, bring charges, and pursue prison sentences through fair trials. The work needs staff, resources, and sustained pressure from leadership.

Impeachment and criminal prosecution are separate processes, and we should pursue both. The House has the power to impeach, the Senate holds the trial, and criminal cases proceed through prosecutors and courts. Democratic leaders should be prepared to use the authority they have and press the work forward when it meets resistance.⁷

I don’t want another appeal to let the country “heal” by abandoning accountability. People harmed by abuses of government power deserve to see the records opened and the cases pursued. Officials who follow this administration should know that holding high office does not buy them a quiet exit.

Replacing the leaders starts with votes by their colleagues. Senate Democrats elect their party leader. House Democrats choose their leadership and their nominee for Speaker, and the full House elects the Speaker. A petition helps demonstrate public demand, and direct pressure puts that demand in front of the members casting those votes.⁸

Sign both petitions:

• Ask Senate Democrats to replace Chuck Schumer as their leader.

• Ask House Democrats to choose a different candidate for Speaker.

Then contact the Democratic members who represent you. Tell your representative to support an alternative to Jeffries for Speaker. Tell your Democratic senators to choose a different Senate leader. Ask them to state publicly how they intend to vote, and share their answers with people organizing locally.

We worked to give Democrats the power to act. Now we need to organize for new leaders who will use it.

Notes

1. Associated Press, “Senate Democrats Will Not Let Trump Put a ‘Right-Winger’ on the Supreme Court, Schumer Vows,” November 5, 2026. Axios, “Hakeem Jeffries Officially Launches Bid for House Speaker,” November 4, 2026.

2. Malcolm Ferguson, “Calls to Replace Jeffries and Schumer Explode After Democratic Wins,” The New Republic, November 5, 2026. Donald Shaw, “The Money Behind Hakeem Jeffries,” Sludge, November 4, 2026.

3. Associated Press, “Senate Passes Republican Funding Bill Hours Before Shutdown Deadline,” PBS News, March 14, 2025.

4. Punchbowl News, “Schumer Backs Stevens, Sees ‘Multiple Paths’ to Majority,” June 11, 2026. Associated Press, “El-Sayed Tells AP Michigan Rejected ‘Hateful, Spiteful Campaign’ After Months of Republican Attacks,” November 4, 2026. Abdul for U.S. Senate, campaign priorities.

5. Office of Hakeem Jeffries, transcript of his appearance on ABC’s This Week, April 20, 2025.

6. Associated Press, “Democrats’ Victory Was Clear. The Party’s Future Is Not,” November 5, 2026.

7. U.S. Senate, “About Impeachment.” National Archives, U.S. Constitution, art. I, sec. 3.

8. U.S. Senate, “Majority and Minority Leaders.” House Democratic Caucus, Democratic Caucus Rules, 119th Congress. National Archives, U.S. Constitution, art. I, sec. 2.