WASHINGTON – It’s another big day for Congress, with House and Senate Democrats meeting separately to air their differences over whether to call on President Joe Biden to step down as his party’s presumptive nominee and not run for a second presidential term in 2024.
Biden has already publicly lost the support of more than a handful of strong and weak Democrats since his stumbling debate performance that raised new concerns among voters about whether the 81-year-old president can beat former President Donald Trump in November’s election.
So far, most of the dissatisfaction with Trump’s performance has been expressed quietly or privately, but Tuesday’s meeting — House Democrats in the morning, Senate Democrats in the afternoon — will be the first opportunity for lawmakers to air their views in a more open session since Biden faced off against Trump last month.
Returning to Washington on Monday, several senior Democratic Party officials issued statements or spoke directly to reporters suggesting that Biden wants to appear active on the campaign trail, giving unscripted interviews and talking privately with voters to show he is the right man for the upcoming election. Some said Biden has a week, or even two, to change his mind.
Biden has stepped up his refusal to step down, writing in an open letter to Democratic senators on Monday that he has secured the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination and still believes he is the only one who can beat Trump.
A Parkinson’s disease specialist recently visited the White House, but not to meet with the president.
President Joe Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of his three-yearly physicals since taking over the White House, his doctor said in a letter late Monday night, making clear that the Parkinson’s disease expert’s recent visit to the White House was not to meet with the president.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor’s letter comes in response to reports by USA Today and other outlets about Parkinson’s disease expert Dr. Kevin Canard, who accompanied Dr. O’Connor, the president’s physician, to the White House once and made eight visits over an eight-month period, according to official visitor records.
Cannard is a neurology specialist who supports the White House Medical Unit. His visit to the White House, as first reported by the New York Post, included one meeting with O’Connor and two others at the White House home clinic on Jan. 17.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Joey Garrison, Sudiksha Koch
Illinois Democrat says Biden ‘can’t win’ in November
The Democrat, one of six House Democrats who have publicly called for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, reiterated his view of Biden’s chances of winning November’s election as he headed for a key private party meeting just outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday morning.
“He can’t win,” Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said of Biden. The eight-term congressman, who represents a Chicago area, also took issue with Biden’s response in a letter to Democratic lawmakers on Monday that he had no plans to drop out of the race. “Negative letters aren’t going to change anyone’s mind,” he said.
— Darren Samuelson
Congressional Hispanic Caucus endorses Biden
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus released a statement Monday expressing its support for President Joe Biden.
“We support President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris,” Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.) and Deputy Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
“President Biden and his administration have worked closely with House Democrats to make historic investments that will positively impact communities across the country, including Latinos, including by addressing climate change, reducing health care costs, expanding access to health care for veterans, and creating jobs through infrastructure legislation,” the group added.
—Coach Sudiksha
mark Warner backs out of secret meeting, remains skeptical of Biden
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was reportedly trying to organize a meeting with Democratic senators about his position as President Joe Biden’s presumptive nominee in the November election.
On Monday, after news of the meeting leaked and lawmakers returned to the Capitol, Warner appeared to soften his stance. The reported meeting was replaced by a discussion at the Senate Democratic Caucus’ regular lunch meeting on Tuesday, and Warner published a softer, but still skeptical, statement about Biden on his X account on Monday.
In the post, Warner argued that another term under former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, would be “dangerous to the rule of law and our democracy.”
“President Biden has led the country through some of our most challenging times and made America stronger,” Warner wrote.
“With so much at stake in the next election, now is the time to discuss the strongest path forward. As these conversations continue, I believe the President has an obligation to more aggressively reach out to the American people and listen directly to a broader range of voices about how we can best prevent President Trump’s lawlessness from returning to the White House,” he said in the post.
—Elizabeth Bayer
AOC endorses Biden
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, told reporters Monday that she supports President Joe Biden’s decision to stay in the 2024 presidential race.
“I’ve spoken to him many times, and he’s made it clear then and since then that he’s still in the race. This matter is resolved,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “He reiterated that this morning. He’s reiterated that to the nation: Joe Biden is our nominee. He’s not dropping out of the race. He’s still in the race and I support him.”
Ocasio-Cortez, a member of “The Squad,” a group of progressive Democrats, said she told Biden that winning the presidential election in November needed “an increased focus on issues that matter to workers across this country.”
—Coach Sudiksha
Sen. Patty Murray says Biden ‘must do more’ to prove he’s strong enough to beat Trump
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Monday that Biden has not yet proven he has what it takes to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump, and suggested the incumbent Democrat should consider dropping out of the 2024 presidential race to “protect and preserve his incredible legacy for the future.”
Murray is the most senior senator to suggest they need to hear more from Biden if he is to become the party’s nominee.
“More than a week after the debate and after speaking with voters, I believe President Biden must work harder to demonstrate he can run a strong enough campaign to defeat President Donald Trump,” Murray, a six-term senator who currently serves as president pro tempore of the Senate, said in a statement.
Will Biden be replaced?
Barring a particularly nasty intraparty rebellion, Biden will either accept the Democratic presidential nomination or decline it, and so far the president has resisted growing calls to step down and doesn’t appear ready to do so just yet.
If Biden were to change his mind and forego reelection, the focus would shift to finding a replacement for his top choice, with Vice President Kamala Harris already the leading presidential candidate and the front-runner for the post.
– Savannah Kuchar
Where is Biden in the polls?
Joe Biden has fallen further behind Donald Trump in most polls since facing off against him in the first 2024 presidential debate last month.
An exclusive USA Today/Suffolk University poll taken immediately after the debate showed Trump leading Biden 41% to 38%. Before the debate turmoil, the two candidates were tied at 37%.
A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found that Trump’s lead over Biden increased by 3 percentage points after the debate.
– Elizabeth Beyer and Carissa Waddick
