Biden scrambles to head off defections on Capitol Hill as lawmakers return

The group’s meeting was part of several such gatherings of Democratic lawmakers, the first serious in-person discussions by members of the House and Senate since Biden’s halting debate performance on June 27 shook many Democrats’ confidence in his candidacy. A significant number of the lawmakers have been expressing doubt, publicly and privately, that the president can convince voters he is up to the job and can serve out another term.

Hours before the meeting with the CBC, Biden send a letter to congressional Democrats warning that any ongoing efforts to persuade him to step aside were a distraction from the critical mission of defeating presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“Believe me, I know better than anyone the responsibility and the burden the nominee of our party carries,” Biden wrote. “I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”

Biden urged fellow Democrats to quickly shut down the debate.

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for more than a week now. And it’s time for it to end,” Biden wrote. “We have one job. And that is to defeat Donald Trump. We have 42 days to the Democratic convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us.”

Taken together, Biden’s actions Monday were aimed at heading off further dissent as lawmakers prepared to spend the week in Washington, creating more opportunities for them to discuss Biden’s prospects.

Calling in to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Biden took a populist tone in hitting back against the laundry list of prominent commentators who have urged him to exit the race. “I don’t care what those big names think,” he said. “They were wrong in 2020. They were wrong in 2022 about the red wave. They are wrong in 2024.”

Biden made similar arguments in a call with some of his major donors, stressing that he won millions of votes in the Democratic primaries this year. “We’re done talking about the debate,” Biden said, according to a donor on the call, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

One donor said Biden was more forceful than he had been in previous days. “Donors are saying, ‘Better later than never,’” the person said, adding that they wished Biden had made such calls to reassure supporters in the days after the debate.

After his remarks, Biden participated in a question-and-answer session to discuss the campaign ahead and his plans to beat Donald Trump in November.

The first question on the call was how Biden would change his preparation and framing of the next debate. “Attack, attack, attack, attack,” Biden replied. Another donor said they were grateful Biden was staying in the race and urged the president to “bring Scranton Joe to the next debate, because Scranton Joe can beat Donald Trump.”

The relatively friendly formats that Biden addressed Monday did not reflect the turmoil that has rattled the Democratic Party in recent days, including on Capitol Hill. While several lawmakers have forcefully reaffirmed their allegiance to Biden, others have spent the past week agonizing over his future and expressing grave doubts that the 81-year-old can defeat Trump in November. (Trump is 78.)

As of Sunday, nine House Democrats — four privately and five publicly — had called for Biden to exit the race. In addition, at least 18 current and former top Democrats as of Saturday had publicly raised concerns about Biden’s fitness for office and his ability to defeat Trump.

The top two Senate Democrats gave differing responses to Biden’s hold on the nomination on Monday. “As I’ve said before, I’m for Joe,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters upon entering the Capitol.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) offered a more nuanced take on the subject, predicting the issue would be “thoroughly discussed” in Democrats’ caucus meetings. Durbin said there were obvious divisions among Senate Democrats about the choice ahead.

“I’ve talked to a dozen of my colleagues and they have differing views,” he added.

Biden will face only more scrutiny this week. Under the growing pressure from Capitol Hill, the president is hosting the 75th annual NATO summit in Washington, which European leaders had expected to be a largely celebratory event.

Instead, they will be anxiously monitoring Biden’s appearance and condition after the debate heightened anxieties about the prospect of a second Trump term, which many NATO leaders dread. Biden is scheduled to give a speech on NATO on Tuesday, meet with several heads of state and, in his most anticipated event, hold a solo news conference Thursday. Biden is also scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Detroit on Friday.

Like Western leaders, members of Congress will be watching closely. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a highly influential figure, is in listening mode and has so far kept his opinions on Biden’s situation to himself.

The Biden campaign has significantly stepped up its outreach to Democrats on Capitol Hill in hopes of heading off more defections upon lawmakers’ return. That followed grumbling from many members that they had not heard from the president amid the crisis over his candidacy.

Biden called 20 Democrats last week — including Schumer, Jeffries and Reps. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and James E. Clyburn (S.C.) — to reassure Democrats that he is hearing their concerns, according to a campaign official. He is expected to reach out to more lawmakers in coming days.

Some Democrats are waiting to see how Biden fares on the campaign trail and at the NATO summit before deciding whether to call publicly for him to end his reelection bid. Others say privately they already consider Biden’s ramped-up schedule — and his effort to show his determination to fight — too little, too late.

One House Democrat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide a candid analysis, said some Democrats were beginning to accept that Biden was dug in and unlikely to drop out of the race. This lawmaker said the party’s internal polling is mixed on whether Biden could hurt Democrats’ chances of recapturing the House and maintaining control of the Senate.

The calls on Capitol Hill for Biden to step aside have so far come from the House rather than the Senate, and any change in that dynamic would be notable. Last week, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) sought to form a group that would go to the White House and seek the president’s exit, although those plans appear to have fallen by the wayside.

On Friday, Biden told ABC News that only the Lord Almighty could persuade him to change his mind and drop out of the race. That prompted some pushback from congressional Democrats over the weekend.

“I certainly respect the Lord, but this is a real-world decision for him and for everyday Democratic senators and members of Congress,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said in an interview Sunday. “As much as we’d like divine intervention, it will elude us. So we have to act.”

In a preview of the divisive week ahead, 24 top Democrats on House committees joined a virtual call with Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.) on Sunday. Participants were divided over whether to defend or desert Biden, according to three people on the call, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak openly about internal party deliberations.

Democratic senators, long the president’s strongest base of support on the Hill, have kept quieter than their rowdier House counterparts. But behind the scenes, many senators share similar fears that Biden no longer has a path forward, according to multiple senators and aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the dynamics freely.

Warner’s tentative plan to assemble senators for an in-person meeting to discuss Biden’s future appeared to be scrapped after reporting about the effort scrambled the plans, one senator said. Instead, Democratic senators are likely to discuss Biden’s prospects at their regularly scheduled Tuesday lunch.

Some House Democrats are still weighing whether to urge Biden publicly to withdraw, saying the feedback from local leaders and constituents in their districts has been mixed. Some lawmakers also said that their offices have been getting calls from constituents all week, with some saying Biden should pull out and others saying he should stay in the fight.

In the call to his donors, Biden said he would focus more on attacking Trump in the weeks ahead. Biden and Trump are scheduled to debate again Sept. 10, less than two months before Election Day.

Not everyone on the call who wanted to ask a question was given a chance, but those who did were largely supportive of the president, the donor said. “He definitely isn’t thinking of dropping out, that’s for sure,” the donor said.

Hanging over the debate among Democrats is their agonizing fear that a second term for Trump would be disastrous for the country, and some hope that anxiety will unify the party.

“The fear of having another Trump presidency, especially given how much more unhinged he has been, is palpable,” said Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.). “And so I think people are going to pull together.”

Leigh Ann Caldwell and Paul Kane contributed to this report.