Democrats struggle with big question: Who is the leader of their party?

A big question has been on the minds of Democrats since their grueling loss in November: Who is the leader of the Democratic Party?

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)? House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)? Someone else?

The delicate question has been lingering since former President Biden dropped his bid for reelection, Vice President Harris lost her run to replace him, and shell-shocked Democrats were left with the dilemma of finding the strong national voice to lead the resistance against President Trump in his second term — an opposition that’s gained urgency amid the rapid-fire pace of Trump’s efforts to remake the workings of Washington.

Some Democrats fear the void hasn’t been filled — and might not be for some time.

“There is no one. … It’s as simple as that,” said former Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who was among the first Democrats to warn that Biden’s age was a liability on the campaign trail.

“There’s no one, certainly, that the party, I would argue, looks to, or feels led by, or inspired by, is the truth,” he continued. “Any organization — business, for-profit, nonprofit, political party — that lacks spirited leadership is going to suffer. And I think you can count us among those organizations right now. There’s just no question.”

Phillips is hardly alone. Other lawmakers on Capitol Hill are also sounding alarms that Democrats have no obvious national leader in the wake of Trump’s victory, and they’re worried it will take some time for one to emerge.

“We used to have Obama, we used to have Clinton. And we really don't have anybody right now,” a moderate House lawmaker said. “I think we have to groom that figure, but I don't know who it is — as horrible as that sounds."

As Democrats have undergone autopsies and are planning their rebuilding efforts, it is a question party operatives have encountered trouble in answering. And as Trump has taken a series of swift actions to remake the government, it is a question they have to figure out sooner rather than later, Democrats say.

"Democrats are craving true leaders, who can emerge by being louder and using all the emotions," said Tracy Sefl, a veteran Democratic consultant. "The crisis we're in demands leaders who will talk with the passion of someone who calls into sports radio shows.

"Show us you're fighting like hell for our team, while we risk losing badly with precious time left," Sefl said. “While all this talk about leadership continues, countless people’s lives are being willfully harmed by this administration.”

Frustration has been brewing since Trump took office, with a number of Democrats — from governors to strategists and donors — saying leadership needs to respond to the president with more force. On a call with Democratic governors last week, Schumer — one of the longest-serving leaders of the party — was urged to take a tougher stance with Trump.

On Monday night, even Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show," pleaded with Democrats to “please stop f---ing trotting Schumer” out to respond to Trump.

“He’s not good at this,” Stewart said.

Democrats also acknowledge that while Schumer is the leader of the Senate, he represents “the same old, same old,” as one strategist put it.

Jeffries is much newer to the leadership ranks, having risen to the conference's top spot just two years ago, after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stepped out of the seat. And a number of his Capitol Hill allies say he has the chops to become the national face of the Trump opposition, even if it won’t happen immediately.

“Obviously we're in the minority right now — but there's a very good chance in 2027 we could be in the majority, and it'll be Speaker Jeffries and he'll be the highest-ranking Democrat [in the country],” Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) said. “I do think we'll take the next two years to really build up his profile, build up his policy portfolio.”

Still, while Jeffries is a fresher face to the party, some other Democrats have been underwhelmed by his outward-facing communications to date.

“There’s a vacuum of leadership, even on Capitol Hill,” one longtime Democratic donor said. “That’s the problem. None of these people can lead us out of the wilderness.”

Part of the problem, Democrats say, is that there was no Democratic primary during the 2024 presidential cycle, which would might have organically created the next crop of leaders. And while Harris replaced Biden in the general election against Trump, Democrats have historically frowned upon looking to a defeated candidate for inspiration.

“In the absence of having a competitive primary, when we absolutely needed one, nobody got to be introduced to those next-generation candidates,” Phillips said. “So they’re all waiting in the wings for next time, and as a result there’s a vacuum of leadership. And that’s another example of why that decision was just so consequential.”

This week, Democrats took the first major step in their rebuilding effort when they elected Ken Martin as the new chair of the Democratic Party.

Right out of the gate, Martin signaled the party would be taking a more forceful approach to Trump: ”We're coming. This is a Democratic Party. We're taking the gloves off."

But Democrats quietly expressed concern about whether Martin — who is relatively unknown — would be enough.

“If you’re a Democrat and you’re expecting Ken Martin to step up and be the savior of the party, you’re doing it wrong,” said one Democratic strategist, who said Martin’s role would be to raise money and help Democrats get organized in states.

“People keep thinking we’ll find the LeBron James of politics and it’ll be fine,” the strategist said. “But there’s no master plan with someone pulling the strings.

“We got our lunch handed to us a little bit and it’s going to take some time to figure out what’s next,” the strategist added.

Amid the debate, some Democrats said the criticisms of party leaders are misplaced.

"It's not like we'll point to someone and say, 'You're the guy.' It'll be more organic than that," said a second House lawmaker who requested anonymity to speak on a sensitive topic.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a 28-year veteran of Capitol Hill, also emphasized that the emergence of the next leader is inevitable. In the meantime, however, he said everyone in the party needs to play a role in the Trump resistance.

“If everybody's waiting for somebody to say, 'OK, I'm going to rely on you to get us over the finish line’ or ‘you to take on Trump,' then we're kidding ourselves,” he said. “Because quite frankly we all have to step it up in a way that we've never done before.”

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