The Scoop
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wants Democrats to put the brakes on the race to succeed the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, a call that comes just after Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, officially launched his whip campaign in an interview with The Washington Post.
“I like Brian Schatz a lot and I have no interest in the job, but we don’t need to decide the whip race until after the midterms. Right now, we need to stay 110% focused on fighting [President] Donald Trump,” she told Semafor. “We need every single senator in this fight focused on Trump.”
Schatz, Durbin’s chief deputy whip, already has his own team out there scrapping for votes, and many Democrats think he’s likely to end up with the job. But if enough members of the caucus keep their powder dry, the race could stay on ice until next fall.
Know More
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is the No. 3 Democrat, and other members of the caucus believe she is interested in the race, too. Unlike Schatz, she hasn’t launched an overt campaign to succeed the retiring Durbin. And there are many variables which could affect the party’s politics — most crucially, whether the current Democratic leadership team, helmed by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, can retake some GOP seats and wrest back the majority in 2026.
With all that uncertainty, Warren — herself a member of Democratic leadership — said the party has “plenty of time” to figure out its leadership team for 2027.
“I am happy to see people step up in the fight. We need all 47 senators in that fight right now,” she said in the interview. “We’ll know a lot more about where we are a year and a half from now. But right now, is when we have a chance to make a difference.”