House Democrats emerge from closed-door meeting divided on Biden’s fate

House Democrats met Tuesday with consensus on their mind, but many members emerged from their weekly caucus ranging from shell-shocked and annoyed to stoically ignoring the big question — is the Democratic Party behind President Joe Biden as the nominee?

Following Biden’s lackluster debate performance combined with months of gaffes and mishaps, eyes turned to congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill this week to determine if the president’s political future is coming to an end, or if the party will support him as he faces a rematch against former President Donald Trump in November.

A mix of emotions and comments from various Democratic lawmakers Tuesday made one thing clear — no one is on the same page when it comes to supporting Biden as the nominee.

Some, such as Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), told reporters the party hasn’t made a decision and the conference isn’t “even in the same book.” Others, such as Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), ballparked the conference to about 90% agreement to support Biden as the party’s presidential candidate. The majority of Democrats, however, remained silent as they left the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters Tuesday.

Others gave the meeting a more grim review. One Democratic member expressed there was a feeling of “sadness” in the meeting that comes from “talking about someone you love who is in obvious decline,” per CNN. Another member said it “felt like a funeral,” per Punchbowl News.

Most members refrained from speaking at all or simply stated that Biden will remain the party’s choice. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) repeated, “Joe Biden is, will, and should be the nominee,” before telling reporters not to ask her any more questions. Many declined to talk about what happened in “family conversations” and indicated that more discussions on the topic will be had in the coming days.

Seven House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race, while a handful of others have privately expressed concerns about the president’s candidacy. One of the latter, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), changed his tune, telling reporters that though he still has concerns, they are “beside the point” and Biden is “going to be our nominee, and we all have to support him.”

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) said around 30 members got up and spoke during the meeting, but there was not a back-and-forth discussion. Instead, members just stated their case either for or against Biden. He said no one new spoke out and declared Biden should step down.

“People expressed themselves and moved on,” Ivey said.

Tuesday’s meeting also comes after Biden called into a Congressional Black Caucus meeting to shore up support among black lawmakers. Many black Democrats have expressed they are “100% behind Biden,” and even members of the “Squad” who have been critical of the president’s approach to the Hamas-Israel war have come out in support of the president.

Some members have issued warnings to their colleagues that fracturing the party over Biden’s candidacy could weaken the president down the line if and when he is selected as the Democratic nominee.

“Those publicly calling on President Biden to withdraw should ask themselves: What if the president becomes the Democratic nominee? The drip, drip, drip of public statements of no confidence only serve to weaken a President who has been weakened not only by the debate but also by the debate about the debate,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-CA) said in a statement Monday.

Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) said no one else’s opinion, not donors or even lawmakers, matters besides the voters who selected Biden as the nominee in the primaries.

“The voters of this country, the voters of the Democratic Party, chosen him as their nominee. That’s what counts, not in there … Not us in a smoke-filled back room,” Correa said.

When asked if there was unity in the DCCC meeting, Lynch said Tuesday that, as Democrats, it’s “in our nature to be independent.”

“But I think in the end, if the president is committed to making this run, every Democrat will be with him,” Lynch said.

Many Democrats would not say whether they think their colleagues who have publicly or privately spoken in opposition to Biden’s candidacy should stop, but Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) said all Democrats’ campaigns could be wounded if discussions such as these continue.

“As of today, he’s our nominee. We don’t do ourselves a service or the president a service if we don’t get behind the nominee,” Bera said.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) did not say when he thinks the conversations about Biden’s candidacy will end, but said he is “focused like a laser beam” on defeating Trump.

“We do need to turn the attention back to Trump,” Huffman said. “And it’s important, I mean, there comes a time where the family conversation has to refocus on winning.”

“And so, you know, I say the Serenity Prayer, even though I’m not a religious man. And that calls for the wisdom to know the difference between the things that you can change and the things you need to accept,” he added.

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Ivey said practically, he doesn’t think continuing discussions on Biden’s candidacy “is the way to go.” He said he’s sure there will be many more meetings, either caucus-wide or in smaller groups — but there needs to be a time limit.

“I think it’s gotta wrap up by the convention,” he said. “But, you know, hopefully, we’ll be able to sort of nail this topic down sooner rather than later.”