US Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg to leave his role
WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg, who has voiced support for progressive primary challenges to Democratic incumbents running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections, said on Wednesday he will not run for his post again.
The party said its members had voted 294-99 to redo the contest that elected Hogg and another Democrat, Malcolm Kenyatta, as vice chairs earlier this year.
In late April, DNC Chair Ken Martin issued a warning to Hogg to back away from plans to help finance progressive primary challenges to Democratic incumbents running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections.
Martin's message came with the warning that Hogg could get involved in Democratic primary campaigns but not while holding down a DNC job, as the party weighed possible rule changes to facilitate the firings of DNC officials for such activities.
Hogg had said he would raise money through an outside group, "Leaders We Deserve," to foster such challenges.
"It is clear that there is a fundamental disagreement about the role of a Vice Chair - and it's okay to have disagreements. What isn't okay is allowing this to remain our focus when there is so much more we need to be focused on," Hogg said in a statement on Wednesday.
"I have decided to not run in this upcoming election so the party can focus on what really matters."
Hogg, 25, gained national attention after surviving a 2018 mass shooting at his high school in Parkland, Florida. He became a voice for tighter gun control and has evolved into a political activist.
Since then, he has been active in progressive causes and in February won a DNC vice chair spot, as the party intensified efforts to appeal to more progressive voters.
The Democratic Party is engaged in a battle over its future after President Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. elections while his Republican Party won control of both chambers of Congress.
That left Democrats with little ability in Washington to limit Trump's policies, and sparked a wave of intra-party recriminations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
20 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump administration seeks to distance US from Israeli strikes on Iran
WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration sought to distance the United States on Thursday from Israel's strikes on Iran, attacks that are likely to complicate Trump's drive for a nuclear deal with Tehran. Israel said it had struck Iranian nuclear targets to block Tehran from developing atomic weapons, even as the Trump administration was preparing to hold a sixth round of talks on Sunday on Tehran's escalating uranium enrichment program. Marco Rubio, Trump's secretary of state and national security adviser, stressed that Israel's strikes were unilateral, while saying the U.S. had known attacks would occur. "We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region," Rubio said in a statement. "Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense." Just hours before the strikes, Trump had urged a diplomatic solution to the tensions, while saying a strike on Iran "could very well happen." Iran says its nuclear energy program is only for peaceful purposes, although the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Rubio had a stark warning for Iran, a day after the United States ordered some U.S. personnel to leave the Middle East in response to tensions in the area. "Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel," he said. His statement did not mention whether Washington would support Israel if it faces retaliatory strikes, a standard line in the past. Trump has been increasingly at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over both Iran and his handling of the Israel's war in Gaza, wanting to seal a deal with Tehran and accelerate food aid into Gaza. Trump and Netanyahu spoke on Monday, and Trump told reporters the main topic was Iran. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he suggested an Israeli attack was imminent. "Well, I'd love to avoid conflict. Iran's going to have to negotiate a little tougher, meaning they're going to have to give us some things that they're not willing to give us right now," he said. Retaliation by Iran for Israel's strikes could put U.S. troops and diplomats around the region at risk, given that the United States is Israel's main backer. Security concerns had risen since Trump said on Wednesday that U.S. personnel were being moved out of the region because "it could be a dangerous place" and that Tehran would not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Washington and Tehran on Thursday had announced plans for another round of talks on Sunday in Oman between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Whether that meeting will take place is now unclear. A Witkoff spokesperson did not immediately respond to a query.
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Israel notified Washington before Iran strike, state Israeli broadcaster says
JERUSALEM, June 13 (Reuters) - Israel has fully coordinated with Washington on Iran and notified the United States before its strike on Iranian targets, state broadcaster Kan quoted an Israeli official as saying on Friday. The official, who was not named, told Kan that recent reports of rifts between Israel and Washington were false, but had not been denied as part of a media ruse to confuse Iran.
The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israel's strikes on Iran show Trump is unable to restrain Netanyahu as Middle East slips closer to chaos
As Israeli jets struck targets in Iran on Friday morning, the US moved quickly to distance itself from Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to target Tehran in an escalation that threatens an all-out war in the Middle East. The unilateral strikes indicated a collapse of Donald Trump's efforts to restrain the Israeli prime minister and almost certainly scuttled Trump's efforts to negotiate a deal with Iran that would prevent the country from seeking a nuclear weapon. It also will likely lead to an Iranian retaliation that could develop into a full-scale war between Israel and Iran, a new conflict that Trump has publicly sought to avoid. As the dust was still settling from the strikes in Tehran, senior US officials were reduced to calling the Israeli strike a 'unilateral' action and warned Tehran away from retaliating against US embassies and bases in the region. 'Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran,' said secretary of state Marco Rubio in a statement. 'We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. 'Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defence,' he continued. 'President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.' Washington officials and analysts had expected that Israel would hold off on launching strikes until after the US exhausted attempts to negotiate a deal with Iran. During a phone call on Monday, Trump asked Netanyahu not to attack Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported. But by Wednesday, Trump began to pull non-essential personnel out of embassies and bases in the Middle East within striking distance of Iran. Still, Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was expected to travel to Muscat in Oman in order to conduct a sixth round of talks with Iran on Sunday in what was seen as a last chance for diplomacy. And the strikes took place just hours after Trump had publicly urged the Netanyahu government not to attack Iran, with the US president saying that he believed an Israeli offensive would 'blow' up the negotiations. 'I'd love to avoid a conflict,' Trump said in remarks from the White House on Thursday. 'We are fairly close to a pretty good agreement … I'd much prefer an agreement. As long as I think there is an agreement I don't want them going in because I think that would blow it.' But, in a nod to speculation that the US was intentionally signaling an imminent attack against Iran, he noted that a strike could also compel Iran to make a deal that would limit its efforts to seek a nuclear weapon. 'It might help it actually but it also could blow it,' he said. That is now a reality. Critics have said the US decision to retreat from the region, stemming from Trump's decision to abandon the Iranian nuclear deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under the first Trump administration has led to a greater likelihood of conflict in the region. The attack was 'clearly intended to scuttle the Trump administration's negotiations with Iran,' said Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and is 'further evidence of how little respect world powers – including our own allies – have for President Trump'. 'This is a disaster of Trump and Netanyahu's own making, and now the region risks spiraling toward a new, deadly conflict,' he added. 'Iran would not be this close to possessing a nuclear weapon if Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu had not forced America out of the nuclear agreement with Iran that had brought Europe, Russia and China together behind the United States to successfully contain Iran's nuclear ambitions.'
