A Democratic intraparty feud deepened Thursday as the Democratic National Committee warned Vice Chairman David Hogg to stop openly backing primary challengers to sitting lawmakers from the party’s aging old guard.

DNC Chairman Ken Martin said the youthful Hogg should not take sides in primaries as the party squabbles over the best way to confront President Trump.

“Let me be unequivocal: No DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election,” Martin told reporters.

Martin, the former Minnesota party chief who was recently elected national DNC chairman, said Hogg, an outspoken 25-year-old gun-control advocate, should step down from his DNC post if he wants to spearhead generational primary challenges.

“If you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC,” Martin said.

”[Hogg] can’t have both,” added Nebraska Democratic leader Jane Kleeb, who leads an organization of state party bosses.

Hogg didn’t immediately comment on the ultimatum from fellow party leaders.

Hogg has vowed to raise up to $20 million for 2026 Democratic primary challenges to long-serving lawmakers. His Leaders We Deserve political action committee says it will only target members of Congress who represent deep-blue districts, a move designed to blunt criticism that it could boost Republicans.

He says the party should embrace fresh blood as it seeks to provide an effective political alternative to Trump, who outperformed expectations among young voters in his 2024 win.

But establishment lawmakers, especially moderates and those in heavily Democratic urban districts — including members of the Congressional Black Caucus — say the party should focus on flipping GOP-held seats and defending so-called frontline Democratic lawmakers who represent swing seats.

The DNC has had a policy against taking sides in presidential primaries after it was accused of siding with Hillary Rodham Clinton in her successful 2016 battle against progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Martin has circulated a similar policy barring DNC officials from taking sides in other Democratic primaries, like for Congress and state house seats. All DNC officials signed onto it except Hogg.

Hogg, a survivor the Parkland High School mass shooting, portrays the primary push as a fight for renewal within the party in the face of Trump’s aggressive push on multiple issues like cuts to government programs and tariffs that will likely raise prices for consumers.

He hasn’t named names of potential primary targets.

Democrats are suffering extremely low approval ratings from voters, Polls show widespread dissatisfaction with the party’s leadership as the party’s base angrily calls for a more confrontational posture against Trump.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took plenty of criticism for allowing Republicans to pass a stopgap spending plan when many in the party wanted him to refuse to cooperate even if it led to a government shutdown.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx, Queens) has burnished her image as a leader of the next generation of Democrats, drawing big crowds even in deep-red states throughout her joint rally tour with Sanders.