Congressional Democrats left Washington on Thursday with lingering questions about President Biden’s ability to lead their 2024 ticket and no clarity about how to end an intraparty dispute over keeping him as the nominee.
Congressional Democrats returned home to their districts with no plan to unite around Mr. Biden ahead of the Republican National Convention next week and top lawmakers suggesting the president may still reconsider his decision to run.
“He’s gonna make a decision. I think he’s still working on that, and we’ll see,” Maryland Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the former No. 2 in House Democratic leadership, said before Mr. Biden’s press conference at the NATO summit.
Democrats entered this week — their first back in Washington since Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance on June 27 — expecting discussions with their colleagues to reveal the best path forward for the party. Instead, they found deep disagreements about whether Mr. Biden is the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump and lead the party to down-ballot victories in November.
Even lawmakers supporting Mr. Biden don’t see a quick end to the turmoil.
“I would imagine over the next seven, eight, nine days people are going to continue to talk,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The Missouri Democrat said he does not know if Mr. Biden will survive the growing pressure campaign against him.
SEE ALSO: Piling on: Michigan’s Scholten urges Biden to quit, adding to House Dem flood
As of 10 p.m. Thursday, 17 House Democrats and one Democratic senator had called on Mr. Biden to step aside as the party’s presidential nominee.
Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Greg Stanton of Arizona, Ed Case of Hawaii, Brad Schneider of Illinois and Hillary Scholten of Michigan were the latest to join the calls to bow out on Thursday afternoon.
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut joined the chorus immediately after the president finished his evening news conference closing the NATO summit in Washington. Reps. Scott Peters of California and Eric Sorensen of Illinois piled on soon after.
“Like most people I represent in southwest Washington, I doubt the president’s judgment about his health, his fitness to do the job, and whether he is the one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisers,” Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez told KGW, her local NBC affiliate.
The top two Democrats in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, have reiterated this week that they support Mr. Biden but have not made any moves to quash dissent about him remaining the nominee.
Mr. Schumer invited top Biden campaign advisers Jen O’Malley Dillon and Mike Donilon, and presidential counselor Steve Ricchetti, to speak to Senate Democrats over lunch at the caucus’s campaign headquarters on Thursday.
SEE ALSO: Implosion? Members of Biden’s inner circle reportedly pushing him to drop out
Although senators collectively characterized the meeting as a “good” discussion, it did not seem to resolve the doubts about Mr. Biden’s electability.
“I’m not going to comment on what we saw or heard. But I still need more data, more analytics that show a path to success,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat. “And what’s more important than my concerns are the questions that have been raised by the American people that only Joe Biden can allay.”
Despite his concerns, Mr. Blumenthal said, “obviously, as the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden has my support.”
Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, is also backing Mr. Biden but said his campaign has not done enough to lay out a vision for a second term.
“It’s one thing to defend a good record — and I think they have a record that they should be proud to defend — but you got to do more than that,” he said. “You got to go forward and lay out an agenda for the future, especially an agenda that addresses the needs of working families who are struggling.”
The Biden campaign advisers offered no indication Thursday that the president was entertaining dropping out of the race, according to Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia independent who caucuses with Democrats and attended the lunch.
But Mr. Manchin declined to say whether any senators urged that outcome, returning to his canned answer that it “was a very good, informative meeting.”
Mr. Manchin said he plans to speak with Mr. Biden this weekend but declined to say whether he would urge him to step aside.
“I’m just wishing for the health and welfare of the president, that’s all,” he said.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Democrat who is up for reelection this year, said she shared the concerns she’s hearing from constituents with the Biden campaign advisers but declined to comment further on the meeting.
“It’s very clear that we were asked not to say anything so I’m not going to say anything,” said Sen. Cory A. Booker, New Jersey Democrat.
Asked if the Biden campaign urged the cone of silence, Sen. Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, said, “We agreed as a caucus not to say anything.”
In the House, Democrats have been more vocal about their concerns.
Rep. Ritchie Torres took to X to attack the Biden campaign’s narrative that the president had one bad debate performance as “a continuing pattern of denial and self-delusion.” The New York Democrat said the debate was “evidence of a deeper challenge” and that the president’s upcoming press appearances will not provide “the political salvation he seems to be seeking.”
“If the President formally becomes the Democratic Nominee, we will have no choice but to make the best of a complicated situation,” Mr. Torres posted. “But there is no point in denying the complications.”
Other House Democrats who are backing Mr. Biden are growing frustrated with the public criticisms.
“Joe Biden has made a decision. If he reaffirms that decision, that’s even more reason for us to unite behind him and break ranks with the circular firing squad and support our candidate,” Rep. Hank Johnson, New York Democrat, told The Washington Times. “At some point, it has to come to an end. And the sooner the better.”
Mr. Johnson said he understands Democratic leaders listening to members’ feedback and not forcefully weighing in this week.
“But at some point, they will need to take action to move us forward in a unified way,” he said. “Democrats really have to come to grips with the fact that we need to be united if we’re going to beat Trump.”
Mr. Jeffries said during his weekly news conference Thursday that House Democrats are still in the process of talking to each other as a “family” and he plans to “respect the sanctity of those conversations” while they are ongoing.
“Those conversations have been candid, comprehensive and clear eyed,” he said. “And they continue.”
Mr. Jeffries did not say when those conversations would conclude, although he noted the importance of members receiving “intimate” feedback from voters in their districts. Democrats will be able to engage with constituents this weekend and throughout the congressional recess next week, while Republicans attend their convention.
Members have also heard from constituents while in Washington this week.
Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman, a Democrat whom the party considers vulnerable in his reelection race, said he has received “urgent” and “impassioned” texts and calls from constituents who are frustrated that Mr. Biden and his advisers aren’t acknowledging the warning signs of a potential GOP sweep in November.
“Our hope is that the president understands that and you start to see a difference, one way or the other,” Mr. Landsman said. “He doesn’t have a lot of time, the president, but he has a few more days. We have a couple of weeks until the [Democratic National] Convention, but this has to get resolved.”
• Kerry Picket contributed to this report.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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