Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan has refused to rule out challenging Chuck Schumer for the leadership of Senate Democrats, days after the party won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. Speaking at the Crooked Con conference in Washington on 7 November, she said she had been "very vocal that we need a new generation of leadership" and that she was "not ruling anything out".

Ms Slotkin set Mr Schumer a test before she would back him, demanding that he present a plan for the first 100 days of the new Congress. "If you can't produce that, I'm not voting for you," she told the audience. She also said Democrats should not give Mr Schumer a quorum until he answered their concerns about how the party would use its new majority.

Mr Schumer, 75, has led Senate Democrats since 2017 and has said he expects to be re-elected majority leader. He remains the heavy favourite, with no declared opponent, and needs only a simple majority of the Democratic caucus, which is projected to hold between 54 and 56 seats when the 120th Congress begins on 3 January 2027. Leadership elections are due next month.

He nevertheless faces open scepticism. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland also declined to back him at the same conference, although he ruled himself out as a challenger, while five newly elected Democratic senators have said they will oppose him in the closed-door vote. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona said he planned to support Mr Schumer but that Senate Democrats needed to do things differently.

The dispute reflects a wider generational and strategic argument inside the party after its sweeping victories on 3 November, with younger members pressing for a sharper break from the old leadership. USA Today reported Ms Slotkin's remarks from the Washington conference.