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The top Democrat in the US House of Representatives will meet with leadership to “determine next steps” amid growing calls in Congress for Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign against President Donald Trump.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Thursday he plans to speak with all 200-plus House Democrats before conferring with his own senior leaders to decide on a way forward as a crisis over Biden’s candidacy grows within the party.
“This week, we as House Democrats have been engaged in a process of talking to one another, and those conversations have been candid, comprehensive and clear, and they will continue,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries has faced growing calls for the 81-year-old Biden to step down amid concerns that Biden’s November victory over Trump is not enough to stay in the White House for another four years.
On Thursday, Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten became the latest Democrat to call on Biden to end his reelection campaign.
“I believe it is time for him to step down from the presidential race and for new leadership to emerge for the good of our democracy,” Scholten said.
New York Rep. Ritchie Torres on Thursday stopped short of explicitly telling Biden to step down, but wrote to X that “the president’s talk of one bad debate performance reflects a continuing pattern of denial and self-deception.”
More than a dozen lawmakers have so far explicitly called on Biden to step down, and many others have also expressed concerns about Biden’s candidacy.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Biden needed to make a “quick” decision about his future, while actor George Clooney, a major Hollywood Democratic supporter and donor, also called for him to drop out of the presidential race.
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Many lawmakers also worry that Biden could weigh heavily on congressional elections, scuppering Democrats’ chances of regaining control of the House of Representatives.
But Rep. Jeffries insisted on Thursday he remained bullish on Democrats’ chances of winning the vote and his chances of becoming the next House Speaker, saying, “House Democrats will take back control of the House on November 5th.”
A Democratic donor told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the party’s campaign funds are “drying up” as Biden continues to announce his candidacy.
“I have yet to speak to anyone in the Senate, on the donor side or in the House who has said they would not welcome any other nominee,” said Jeff Walker, a Democratic donor and investor with the Leadership Now Project, which has called on Biden to end his campaign.
Lawmakers’ growing concern comes about two weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate defeat against Trump sparked panic across the Democratic Party, with top donors and party officials worried the president was unfit to run a reelection campaign and another four years in office.
The White House and Biden’s campaign maintain that the president intends to defeat Trump in his re-election bid and serve another term in the Oval Office.
The behind-the-scenes negotiations on Capitol Hill took place just hours before Biden addresses the world’s media at a news conference concluding this week’s NATO summit in Washington.
Additional reporting by Alex Rodgers in Washington
