Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the No. 3 Democratic Party leader, made her bid for Minnesota governor official Thursday morning, presaging a leadership shakeup in the caucus.
Klobuchar was viewed as a potential contender to succeed Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin as Democratic whip after Durbin — who has held the No. 2 position for two decades — announced his retirement last year.
But Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii moved quickly to lock down support to succeed Durbin, and Klobuchar never threw her name in. Even so, she was seen as a credible successor to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is planning to run again for leader but has faced calls to step down from outside the caucus.
Klobuchar’s announcement comes amid a fight on Capitol Hill about President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda in her home state. The killing of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis has thrown federal funding for the Department of Homeland Security into question ahead of a Friday midnight shutdown deadline.
With the funding fight in full swing and the internal leadership election not taking place until after the November elections, other Democratic leaders aren’t yet jumping to declare their interest in moving up the ranks.
“Let’s talk about it after,” Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, the No. 4 Democratic leader, told reporters Thursday. “I am really just focused on an agency out of control.”
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, another member of Senate leadership and the top Democrat on the Homeland Security funding panel, said he isn’t focused on how leadership ranks will shift.
“We got other big things we’re doing today,” he said.
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