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Politics|Chuck Schumer Faces Pushback From a ‘Fight Club’ of Senate Democrats
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/us/politics/schumer-democrats-senate-fight-club.html
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A group of liberal senators is quietly challenging the minority leader over his approach to the midterms and President Trump, in a sign of the party’s deep frustration.
Nov. 24, 2025Updated 8:07 p.m. ET
A group of influential liberal senators is directly challenging Senator Chuck Schumer’s approach to the midterm elections and President Trump, in another sign of growing frustration among Democrats toward the minority leader.
The coalition of at least half a dozen senators, who call themselves the “Fight Club,” is unhappy with how Mr. Schumer and his fellow senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, the head of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, have chosen, recruited and, they argue, favored candidates aligned with the establishment.
The mutinous mood of the senators — who include Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — reflects the widespread doubts among the Democratic base that party leaders in Congress have a strong vision and a winning strategy for returning to power.
The effort also amounts to an extraordinary pre-emptive challenge to Mr. Schumer at the earliest stages of the 2026 midterm races. He has faced widespread Democratic criticism over his handling of battles against the White House this year and his refusal to endorse Zohran Mamdani as the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. Mr. Mamdani ultimately won.
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The goals and existence of the group, which have not been previously reported, were described by nine people with direct knowledge of its deliberations. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussions.
