Wednesday morning, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) officially succeeded retiring Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as Senate Minority Leader in a leadership election that was devoid of the infighting House Democrats are currently suffering.
Part of the reason for the lack of infighting was a brokered arrangement whereby Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was named an assistant minority leader, avoiding a fight over the job of Minority Whip, which has been retained by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Schumer also expanded his leadership team to 10 to make room for liberal-progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.).
In the new hierarchy, Schumer is followed by Durbin, Murray and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).
Meanwhile, in the House, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) formally announced her intention to run for re-election as the Democratic leader. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has been long-rumored to have considered challenging her, but hasn’t formally declared.
