Van Hollen declares WAR on Chuck Schumer

It’s official. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Thursday night he will challenge Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader in the new Congress.

He said voters asked for new leadership. “This isn’t about any one person – it’s about answering that call,” he wrote.

Then he went on with Jen Psaki and said two things Schumer won’t enjoy hearing. Asked whether Senate Democrats’ campaign arm would take AIPAC money if he were leader, he didn’t hedge.

“My view is that we shouldn’t take any AIPAC money at the DSCC.”

“We shouldn’t have a leader who is getting involved in picking sides in open Democratic primaries,” he added.

Earlier in the week, he said two newly elected senators wouldn’t be in the Senate if Schumer and the DSCC had gotten their way.

Bernie Sanders has already said he won’t back Schumer. Schumer, for his part, says he’s “confident I will be elected majority leader.”

Two days ago, 97% of you told us Van Hollen should run.

On Veterans Day, Pete Hegseth, his wife and his top aides were posing for photos on the steps of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and someone in the group could be heard laughing.

Spc. Thomas Iglesias of the Old Guard turned to face them.

“All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.”

The video went everywhere, and the Pentagon sided with the soldier. “While commemorating this solemn day, a soldier correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum,” spokesman Sean Parnell said.

On Thursday, Iglesias was brought to the Pentagon and awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

Hegseth posted the photos. Iglesias’ face said it all.

“We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist,” he wrote.

It capped a rough Veterans Day for him. When Trump introduced him at Arlington that morning, part of the crowd booed.

Iglesias earned that medal. He got it for doing his job in front of a boss who wasn’t doing his.

Prediction market Kalshi says Donald Trump Jr. is no longer a paid adviser.

Kalshi says it ended the deal because his venture firm, 1789 Capital, invested in its biggest rival, Polymarket.

“We have mutually agreed to end Don’s advisory role after his firm’s significant investment in a competitor this past summer,” spokesperson Dani Lever said. “We are grateful for his contributions in helping us market Kalshi to more customers.”

Don Jr. signed on with Kalshi right after his father was sworn in in January 2025, and reportedly got an equity stake worth about $300,000.

Both companies have had friendly treatment from Trump’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has backed their push to expand nationwide, sports contracts included. Both deny the Trump family ties had anything to do with it.

Democrats, who take over Congress in January, say they plan to investigate the family’s investments in both.

“Let’s be clear about what’s happening: the Trump family is heavily invested in prediction market platforms,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto wrote on X.

So the president’s son was paid to advise one betting company while his firm bankrolled the other. We’d call that hedging his bets.

Trump took JD Vance off Iran on Thursday. In a social media post, he told the vice president to focus on corruption and crime in Democratic-run cities and states.

“We don’t need a deal with Iran,” Trump wrote. “Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!”

Vance had been the lead negotiator on a short-lived truce in the eight-month-old war. He’s also been blaming that war for the GOP’s midterm losses.

“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so,” Vance wrote on X.

The same day, Trump told Hugh Hewitt he’d restart strikes. “If something doesn’t work out, I would not hesitate,” he said.

He also told Hewitt he wants to “get Cuba done before I leave.”

All of this came after Trump posted eight times in six hours Thursday morning, and the 25th Amendment calls started up again.

So the war is over, unless it isn’t, and the vice president’s new job is investigating the voters who just fired his party.

Democrat Cindy Holscher won the race for Kansas governor, the AP projected Thursday, nine days after Election Day.

She beat Ty Masterson, the Republican president of the Kansas Senate, and will replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

The Republican Governors Association spent $19 million on TV and digital ads, and Republicans outspent Democrats more than 3-to-1 overall.

Holscher won more than 60% of Johnson County, home to nearly a quarter of the state’s voters.

CNN put it in perspective on air.

“Holscher’s victory means right now more than 75% of the American people are living in states that have a Democratic governor.”

Mississippi on Wednesday, Kansas on Thursday. Not a bad week for red states.