New York’s Senator Chuck Schumer was unanimously elected on Tuesday to continue his leadership as head of the Senate Democratic Party caucus, an aide told reporters.
Schumer is currently the Senate Majority Leader, but will lose that position on January 20, 2025, when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and instead move to the opposition as Minority Leader.
“I am honored and humbled to be chosen by my colleagues to continue leading Senate Democrats during this crucial period for our country.” Schumer said in a statement.
“Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it; we will always stand up for our values. We have a lot of work ahead — in the Senate and as a country — and in this upcoming Congress, our caucus will continue to fight for what’s best for America’s working class.”
Schumer, who is Jewish, has had a checkered history in his relationship with the State of Israel over the past year.
House Report: Schumer Reportedly Told Columbia to Ignore Campus Jew-Hatred Charges
Earlier this year, the senator called for the overthrow of Israel’s duly elected government, urging Israelis to hold new elections and oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him an “obstacle to peace.”
WATCH: Senator Chuck Schumer Calls for New Election in Israel to Oust PM Netanyahu
During that speech on the floor of the Senate, Schumer called for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“The only real and sustainable solution to this decades-old conflict is a negotiated two-state solution — a demilitarized Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in equal measures of peace, security, prosperity, dignity and mutual recognition.
“Both Jews and Palestinians have long historic claims to this land,” Schumer declared.
“Contrary to the unfounded, absurd and offensive claims by some that the Jewish people are “colonizers” in their ancestral homeland, Jewish people have lived in the Holy Land continuously for more than three millennia. For centuries, Jews have made aliyah and gone to the land of Israel to live and settle. For centuries, at Passover, Jews at every corner of the globe have prayed, ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’
“A Jewish homeland in Israel is no twentieth-century contrivance. Israel is our historic home. A home for people oppressed for centuries,” Schumer acknowledged. However, he lost no time equating the Jewish right to its homeland with Palestinian Authority claims.
“The Palestinians, too, have lived on the land for generations, and in past centuries, they have formed their own distinct culture, identity, cuisine and literature. The idea espoused by some that “There is no such thing as Palestinians” today is inaccurate, offensive and unhelpful,” Schumer said.
“The only just solution to this predicament is one in which each people can flourish in their own state side-by-side. But for a two-state solution to work over the long term, it has to include real and meaningful compromises by both sides.”
This year, Schumer also snubbed Brooklyn’s 45th annual COJO Flatbush legislative breakfast in April, the first time he has done so.
Schumer’s Shame: His ‘Rabbi’ is an Anti-Israel Activist Who Protested War on Hamas
Another tri-state senator was also elected to the party’s senate leadership: Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) was unanimously elected chair of the Strategic Communications Committee.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was elected to another term in the Number 2 spot, as party whip, and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was elected to chair the Steering and Policy Committee, the Number 3 spot.
