Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Sunday that Senate Democrats must act immediately to stop what he called an “illegal war against Iran,” telling CNN’s “State of the Union” the party should use “all our powers right now” to end it.
“I think we need to use all our powers right now to end this illegal war against Iran. And that means not one penny more,” Van Hollen said, adding that this is his position but not that of the current Senate majority leader.
Van Hollen framed the push as part of a broader argument that Democrats have not fully earned voters’ trust despite recent electoral gains. “This is not about one person or any one individual. This really is a response to the call of the voters who clearly rejected Donald Trump and his awful policies, but they haven’t fully hired the Democrats. They’ve given us a chance. And I think we need to earn their trust,” he said.
He said that trust-building should begin with abandoning “business as usual” and pointed to his own record on economic populism. “I’ve had a record of doing what our candidates on the campaign trail talked about—a populist message on rigging an economic system stacked in favor of the very wealthy and fueled by political corruption,” Van Hollen said.
“I think the American people said, end the war and begin bringing prices down right now.”
Van Hollen also raised internal party concerns, criticizing the Senate majority leader for getting involved in contested Democratic primaries. He said two senators-elect currently serving “would not be there if the current majority leader had his way,” alleging the leader “joined with AIPAC and crypto to try to defeat them.”
He closed by calling for more internal democracy within the Senate Democratic Caucus. “We need more democracy within the Senate Democratic Caucus. We need more inclusion. We need more democracy. We need more participation from all the members, especially now, this incredible new class that’s coming in,” Van Hollen said.
