Schumer Vows to End Iran War and Drive Down Costs as Incoming Majority Leader

Chuck Schumer told reporters on Wednesday morning, November 4, 2026, that he is confident he will be the next Senate majority leader once Democrats take back control of the Senate in January. USA Today reported the remark in its live election coverage, timestamped 11:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

At a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, Schumer vowed to end the war in Iran and to pass affordability focused legislation with or without buy-in from the White House. He outlined an aggressive legislative posture toward President Donald Trump, the New York Post reported.

The result behind the claim

Democrats flipped at least seven Republican held Senate seats, in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas, and secured 54 seats for when the new Congress convenes on January 3, 2027, according to the New York Post.

Schumer made the same point at Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters on election night. "Against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate," he said, according to the Post. He added: "We have five words for the American people: Relief is on the way."

End the war, drive down costs

The two promises Schumer put first were the Iran war and prices. "We are going to work hard to drive costs down with the president or without him. Period," he said at the news conference.

He cast the change of control in blunt terms. "The days of Trump's supplicant Senate are over," he said. And he set out what Democratic control of the chamber would mean when the president resists: "whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire."

Not every Democrat is on board yet

Schumer still has to win his own party's leadership elections next month, and not every Democrat has committed to backing him. Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan declined to say on NBC's TODAY programme whether he would support Schumer. El-Sayed had previously said he would back Senator Chris Van Hollen.

The grill photo, reprised

Schumer also marked the win on social media by revisiting a photo of himself at a grill that had been mocked when it first appeared. On Wednesday he posted a photo showing fully cooked burgers and hot dogs, a callback that the Post reported alongside his news conference remarks. The Senate has changed hands, the new Congress convenes on January 3, and the man who expects to lead the majority has named his first two fights: the war in Iran, and the cost of living.