As Van Hollen wages a challenge, Senate Democrats are torn on whom to elect as their leader

Maryland senator’s bid against Chuck Schumer for leadership could decide direction of the Democratic party

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Ever since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Democratic officeholders and voters alike have been divided over whether their leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, is up to the task of taking the president on.

That debate intensified on Thursday, when the Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen announced he will challenge Schumer for the post of Democratic Senate leader, which will become one of the most powerful jobs in Washington when the party takes control of Congress’s upper chamber next year.