Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced on Thursday night that he will challenge Chuck Schumer to lead the new Democratic majority in the Senate, and he has pledged to stop the party's Senate campaign arm taking money from AIPAC. "My view is that we shouldn't take any AIPAC money at the DSCC," Van Hollen said.

Van Hollen said Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee "sided with the crypto industry and AIPAC" against Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Troy Jackson in Maine, who both went on to win their seats. "We have two members in that room, newly elected senators, who would not be there if Schumer and the DSCC had had their way," he said.

Schumer has taken $1,727,974 from pro-Israel PACs and donors over his career, through the 2024 election, one of the largest totals in Congress. In Michigan he endorsed Representative Haley Stevens, while AIPAC's super PAC spent more than $31 million backing her, and El-Sayed still beat her by 48.5% to 47.5%.