Several lawmakers While some have publicly declared their loyalty to Biden, others have been fretting over Biden’s future over the past week and expressing serious doubts about whether the 81-year-old Biden can beat Donald Trump in November.
As of Sunday, nine House Democrats — four privately and five publicly — had called for Biden to drop out of the race, and at least 18 current and former Democratic officials as of Saturday had publicly expressed concerns about Biden’s fitness to be president and his ability to defeat Trump as the election heads into a crucial week.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is in listening mode and has not yet offered an opinion on Mr. Biden’s situation, as has Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York. Both chambers must balance their loyalty to Mr. Biden with members’ concerns about recapturing their slim House majorities and holding onto the Senate in November.
The Biden team has been stepping up outreach to Democrats in Congress in the hopes of stopping the bleeding when they return.
Biden sent a two-page letter to all Democratic members of Congress on Monday morning, laying out the party’s unified vision and asserting that he is “firmly committed to staying in this race, fighting to the end, and defeating Donald Trump.”
“The question of how to move forward has been debated for over a week now, and it’s time to end it,” Biden wrote at the end of the letter. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the agenda ahead will only help Trump and hurt us. Now is the time to come together.”
The letter came just hours after the Biden-Harris campaign sent a memo to all Democratic officeholders on Sunday evening. In the memo, obtained by The Washington Post, the campaign outlined 15 public and private events Biden had attended since the debate, touted comments made by congressional Democrats in defense of Biden and summarized how grassroots support for the president continues.
It’s unclear how the memo will be received by lawmakers, but many House Democrats and aides privately complained earlier this week that the campaign had sent out talking points without considering requests for Biden to appear on campaign trail more frequently. Many Democrats believe the outreach was too little, too late, and should have come a few days or even a week before the debate.
Campaign officials said Biden contacted 20 lawmakers last week, including Schumer, Jeffries, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. James E. Clyburn (D.C.), and is expected to call more this week to reassure Democrats that he is listening to their concerns.
Several Democrats plan to wait and see how Biden handles the campaign and this week’s NATO summit in Washington before making a judgment call, but some believe the ramped-up campaign and Biden schedule is too little, too late.
Many worry that the president continues to deny his ability to beat Trump.
Calls for Biden to step down have so far only come from members of the House of Representatives, but that could easily change: last week, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) tried to organize a group to go to the White House and call for the president to step down.
“The president said he would listen to Almighty God if he came. It’s Sunday, and I respect God, of course, but this is a practical decision for the president and for rank-and-file Democratic senators and congressmen,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, said in an interview Sunday, referring to Biden’s comments in an interview with ABC News on Friday. “No matter how much we hope for divine intervention, it’s out of our control, so we have to act.”
In a harbinger of a divisive week ahead, two dozen Democratic leaders of House committees participated in a private virtual call Sunday with Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and House Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). Members were split on whether to defend Biden or abandon him, according to three people who took part in the call, who, like other participants in this article, spoke publicly about their party’s deliberations on the condition of anonymity.
Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Joseph Morrell (D-N.Y.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), all the top Democrats on their respective committees, are said to be strongly arguing that the bill should be killed. Biden.
Reps. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) pushed back, fiercely defending Biden and saying his failure in just one debate should not cloud his historic presidency and vision for the future. They also noted there is little evidence so far that he cannot beat Trump.
“President Biden defeated President Trump in 2020 and, fueled by a historic record of success, will win again in November,” Neal said in a statement after the call. “Republicans pose the greatest threat to our democracy, economy and the health of our people, and the president knows what’s at stake. I will be with him to the end and fighting tooth and nail to defeat those threats.”
Other Democrats began publicly criticizing their colleagues for private meetings and venting grievances to reporters.
“For the last 10 days, people have spent more time spreading negativity and attacks on my candidate than my opponent. There are 120 days until the election,” Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) wrote on social media on Sunday.
While Jeffries and his aides have listened to the venting of frustration from increasingly disgruntled colleagues and kept defections at bay, House Democrats and their aides know that discussions over the next three days, including Tuesday’s weekly full House meeting, will clarify Congress’ role in this unprecedented situation.
“Whatever decision we make, we need to do it within the next 48 hours, because right now we have the worst of both worlds,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pennsylvania) told his colleagues on Sunday, according to Democrats who participated in the call.
Senate Democrats have long been the president’s strongest base of support in Congress but have remained quiet compared with their more vociferous House counterparts. But behind the scenes, many senators share similar concerns that Biden no longer has a path forward, according to multiple senators and aides who spoke freely about the situation on the condition of anonymity.
Warner, who has told people Biden cannot beat Trump, has been quietly lobbying for the group to put together a strategy to remove Biden from the election. Warner, a Virginia Democrat, had made tentative plans to bring senators together for an in-person meeting to discuss Biden’s future, but those plans appear to have been halted after reports about the effort disrupted those plans, one senator said. Instead, senators are likely to discuss Biden at their regular Tuesday luncheon.
Several senators said Sunday that time is of the essence.
“Right now we’re stuck in a quagmire, and the debate is about presidential eligibility, even though our opponent is a convicted felon, and we can’t stay in that situation,” Welch said. “So we have to move forward. So it was an extraordinary success that Biden was able to resolve the age issue, and it’s very hard to see how that happened, but we’re either going to take a giant leap.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on CNN that this week was “critically important,” adding that the president’s ABC News interview hadn’t done enough to ease people’s concerns. “I think the president needs to do more,” he said.
Other senators defended Biden.
“Biden is old,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 82, told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “He’s not as eloquent as he used to be. I wish I could jump up the steps of Air Force One, but I can’t. We should be focusing on policy. Whose policies have benefited and will benefit the majority of people in this country?”
Sanders said he would not attend the Senate conference to discuss Biden’s future.
Many lawmakers were left worrying about Biden’s “what ifs”: What if Biden were to hold another debate in the weeks after he officially became the Democratic nominee after the convention? What if his approval rating continued to drop after he was re-elected, undermining the approval ratings of House candidates in the midterm elections two years from now? What if he failed to beat Trump in November?
Some House Democrats are still considering whether to speak out publicly, given the mixed reactions from local leaders and constituents. Some have called for lawmakers to publicly ask Biden to resign, while others say Biden should make the decision himself without consulting lawmakers. Some said their Washington offices have been receiving calls from constituents all week, representing both sides of the argument.
One thing is certain: the dialogue with Hill will continue.
“The fear that President Trump could become president again is palpable, especially given that he’s been crazier than he’s ever been, so I think people will come together,” said Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.).
Paul Kane contributed to this report.
