The News
Brad Schneider has a vision for how moderate Democrats can help their party climb out of the wilderness: “Move fast and fix things.”
The Illinois congressman chairs the House’s New Democrat Coalition, whose 114 members look for ways to meet Republican colleagues in the middle. He took the job in November, just after voters handed complete control of Washington to Republicans amid deep-seated economic dissatisfaction.
Now Schneider is pushing for a lead role as the party’s center seeks to reorient Democrats away from the progressive surge of the last five years. He wants to provide a road map for how Democrats can coalesce around wedge issues like Israel’s war in Gaza, immigration, the debt, and cryptocurrency so they can win back Congress in 2026.
“Elon Musk has a reputation: He wanted to move fast and break things,” Schneider told Semafor from his Capitol office on Monday. “The New Dems are looking to move fast and fix things.”
The View From Brad Schneider
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Eleanor Mueller: What’s your vision for how New Democrats can unite the various corners of the Democratic Party?
Brad Schneider: We are the center of how we move the party forward. There’s a lot of consternation about a lack of a single voice or a single leader for the Democrats. But we have an incredible talent pool — not just the 114 New Dems, but the folks we have in governorships.
We’re talking about ideas and policies that will improve life for all Americans — actually lower costs, make it easier to get ahead, and address the issues that we are facing from infrastructure. We’ve been talking about immigration and ways to move that forward since as long as I’ve been in Congress, innovation, and also America’s role in the world.
Our message is about moving the country forward together, all Americans, and doing it in a way that isn’t promising castles and clouds like Bernie Sanders likes to do, but just saying, “How do we build from the ground up, step by step, so that we’re going to be better and stronger and move forward each and every day?”
Republicans say that the rioters in Los Angeles are doing what Democrats want. Why are they wrong?
LA was quiet and calm, and then ICE began raids by showing up, sometimes in the dark at night, sometimes wearing masks. It’s not that transparent. I think there is broad agreement throughout the country that, if there are people in this country who shouldn’t be here, who are a threat to their communities, we should be taking actions to make sure that that threat is removed.
But a country of laws, a country that celebrates its foundation on the Constitution and its implementation of those laws, due process and transparency — that stuff that we should welcome in the light of day, without the mess. The authorities in California and Los Angeles were taking the appropriate actions. The administration and Republicans, they’re using this to further their narrative, to throw gasoline on the fire, to try to spark more anxiety and more fear.
We should all be very concerned. I know in my community, people are anxious, people are scared. I also know in my community, we had a town hall on Saturday, and the questions were about, “How do we protect the Constitution? How do we uphold the rule of law?”
Do you think non-citizens participating in the protests should be deported?
No. The Constitution uses the word ‘citizen’ 22 times; the word ‘person’ 49 times. There’s only three places where the two are linked. People in the United States have the right to free speech. I’ll defend people’s right to speak, even when I disagree to my core with what they’re saying.
That doesn’t give them the right to commit acts of violence, to intimidate, harass, and threaten other people. When it crosses the line, there should be consequences for everybody.
Speaking of free speech, we’ve seen a lot of daylight in the party when it comes to the war between Israel and Hamas. How do you see the caucus moving forward on it?
I don’t think there’s any debate that this war is horrible. And then within that, there’s a debate of how to get to the most expeditious end — I know, for me, that’s getting the hostages released, Hamas relinquishing control of Gaza, abandoning its threat to Israel, and then working within the Abraham Accords. The debate’s fine. But denying the legitimacy of Israel or calling for the destruction of the Palestinians, you’ve crossed the line on both sides.
How do you see the party moving forward on digital assets, given that there are Democrats with real hesitations around Trump-affiliated digital assets and then others who say Congress needs to act?
The fact that the corruption is transparent and out in the open doesn’t make [Trump-affiliated assets] any less corrupt. But Congress can’t wish away what’s happening out in the world — and crypto is happening.
How can the New Democrats bring party leadership along for what you want to do?
We all have a great relationship with leadership. Leader Jeffries has been unfairly criticized, in my view, for going out of his way to listen to his caucus. There’s a lot of different perspectives. But New Dems are the core; we’re the majority of the caucus at 114 members.
We are in the trenches, fighting on the front lines, dealing with the concerns of people who say, “I can go either way. I’m looking for someone who’s going to show us a vision to take us down the road that will lead to a better life for me and my family.”
How are you thinking about the four-person race for ranking member on House Oversight in the context of the larger conversation about how Democrats treat seniority?
I want to make sure we have the best person who is leading in committee, who knows how Congress works — which is complicated and nuanced in the best of times — but who also reflects who we are as a country. So I think there’s a mix. I think seniority is something that you consider, but should not be determinative.
Do you think there need to be more structural changes to how Democrats select committee leaders?
I have ideas I will share with you at this time in 18 months.