Senator from New York promises to work with Trump administration on areas where they agree as Republicans re-elect Mitch McConnell to majority leader

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Senate Democrats on Wednesday elected Chuck Schumer of New York to lead the party into the Donald Trump era, while Senate Republicans re-elected Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to be their key legislative bridge to the next administration.

Schumer had hoped he might be the majority leader if his party recaptured the Senate, working closely with Hillary Clinton’s administration. Instead, the New York Democrat will serve as the party’s main counterweight to a Trump presidency as minority leader. He will replace Harry Reid, the sharp-tongued senator from Nevada, who is retiring.

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“When you lose an election like this, you can’t flinch,” Schumer told reporters during a brief press conference after the elections.

In a signal that the party is listening to voters’ demands for change, Schumer was flanked by senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, all of whom were given leadership roles.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, was also named as a ranking member of the budget committee. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, will continue on as the No 2 Democrat in the chamber.

“We needed a sharper, bolder, stronger economic message and we needed to let Americans understand what we all believe: that the system’s not working for them and we’re going to change it,” Schumer said.

Schumer added that they will work with the incoming administration on areas where they agree, but said to expect a “strong and tough fight” when liberal values and progress is under attack.

Asked about the appointment of Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of rightwing website Breitbart who has been called a champion of white supremacists, as a senior White House adviser, Schumer called the former Trump campaign chief’s rhetoric “reprehensible” but stopped short of calling for his resignation.

On Tuesday Reid called on Trump to rescind Bannon’s appointment during a fiery address from the Senate floor. He has implored Democrats to be vigilant against attempts to “normalize” Trump’s behavior.

McConnell was elected unanimously, a reward for keeping the Senate from flipping to the Democrats in a tough political climate. Senator John Cornyn of Texas was re-elected as the Republican whip. Republicans will control the Senate with a 51-48 edge, with one race still yet to be decided.

Republican representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin was unanimously chosen to another term as speaker of the House on Tuesday. He will face a majority-rule vote before the full House at the start of the next session of Congress. Republicans control the House by a margin of 238-193, again with one race still to be decided.

“Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government,” Ryan said before the elections.

Also on Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi officially announced that she is seeking to be re-elected as House minority leader.

“It is with both humility and confidence that I write to request your support for House Democratic leader. As of this writing, I am pleased to report the support of more than two-thirds of the caucus,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday.

The announcement comes after she was pressured to delay leadership elections amid growing rancor among rank-and-file Democrats who are upset by the election results. The elections will now take place on 30 November.

It is unclear if anyone will challenge the California Democrat, especially now that she has signaled she has broad support.