Hill Democrats brace for fight over Biden’s political future

Congressional Democrats will meet for the first time since Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance on Tuesday in what could be a career-defining moment for the president.

Biden escaped a mass revolt when lawmakers, fresh off a two-week recess, returned to Capitol Hill on Monday. Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate largely reiterated their support for the president, while just one additional House Democrat, the sixth so far, called on him to step aside.

Yet the president is navigating a groundswell of discontent among Democrats rattled by the debate, in which Biden struggled to complete sentences and challenge former President Donald Trump.

For the better part of two weeks, Democrats have vented those frustrations to one another over the phone and by text without any serious mobilization against Biden. But the White House will be watching carefully to see if the dam finally breaks on Tuesday once members have a chance to huddle in person.

In the morning, House Democrats will meet as a conference at the Democratic National Committee, where they will attempt to avoid the sort of leaks common to their conference meetings. No phones will be permitted in the room.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats will discuss Biden’s candidacy at their weekly lunch.

“I have a lot of concerns. And I’m not the only one. I’ve been hearing a lot of concerns from folks back home in Minnesota,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), vice chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said. “Our party is having a big, robust discussion about what comes next and what we should do.”

The stakes could not be higher for Biden. He alone can decide whether to make way for a different nominee and has so far refused to do so. But if calls for him to pass the torch spread to leadership, or if rank-and-file Democrats reject the president en masse, it could mark an inflection point in the intraparty standoff.

Biden still had the backing of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the top Democrats in the House and Senate, respectively, on Monday. However, not all senior Democrats were satisfied with the lengths Biden has gone to put concerns to rest.

“We need to see a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future in order for him to convince voters he is up to the job,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the president pro tempore of the Senate, said in a statement.

Biden has attempted to project confidence in the days after his debate. He’s held a string of campaign events and interviews, including a Monday call into MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

But the president is facing concerns that his events, in which Biden relies heavily on a teleprompter, are too carefully scripted and that an all-out blitz is what’s needed to put doubts over his viability to rest. His initial slowness to reassure key allies on the Hill personally — he did not call Schumer or Jeffries until days after the debate — contributed to a sense that Biden was turning a blind eye to their fears.

Democrats are desperate to hash out those concerns but in private. The public hand-wringing among lawmakers, especially in anonymous quotes to the media, has contributed to the sense that Biden could be irrecoverably damaged should he remain at the top of the ticket.

“I think at the end of the day, he is our nominee right now. Until he’s not our nominee, I think we shouldn’t do Trump and Republicans’ dirty work for them,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said.

Tuesday’s meetings offer a chance for the party to get on the same page. Many Democrats refused to say one way or the other whether Biden should remain the nominee, wanting to speak with colleagues before offering their view.

“I’m still thinking,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said.

But they could just as easily deepen the schism facing congressional Democrats.

Biden still has prominent allies in his corner, including Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. But House Democrats’ first attempt at a meeting, a Sunday conference call organized by Jeffries, led several senior members to express their desire for the president to step aside.

“I think it is really important for us, as Democrats, to have an open discussion and to have an open debate to ensure that we are on a path to winning the White House, to winning the Senate, to winning the House,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), who told reporters he wants to see Biden “campaign day and night vigorously and passionately,” said.

“And I think that’s an act not of disloyalty, but an act of loyalty. And I hope the president sees it that way,” he added.

Biden has attempted to consolidate support ahead of the meetings. He attended a virtual meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday night, with plans to speak with Jayapal’s caucus in the near future.

Meanwhile, Biden allies will attempt to argue the president has, in fact, been responsive to congressional Democrats’ concerns.

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Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), who occupies the Delaware seat once held by Biden, plans to lean on the president’s record at Tuesday’s Senate lunch.

“I’ve known Joe Biden 30 years. He is the most accomplished and consequential president in my lifetime,” he told reporters. “I think it would be a huge mistake for the Democratic Party based on one evening in one debate to turn aside from supporting a very seasoned and capable president.”