WASHINGTON — A new wave of Democratic lawmakers called on President Joe Biden to recuse himself from the presidential race on Wednesday, including the first Democratic senator to say he should withdraw.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) wrote in the Washington Post that Biden should withdraw “in the national interest.”
“We have been asking President Biden for a long time to do many things for many,” Welch wrote in the opinion piece. “It has taken unparalleled selflessness and courage. We urge you to put us first, as you have done in the past, and we urge you to do so now.”
Several House Democrats have called on Biden to withdraw from the race, and Welch is the first in the Senate to do so.
Welch, 77, is a fixture in Vermont politics, having served in the House of Representatives since 2007 and been elected to the Senate in 2022.
Earlier Wednesday, Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Pat Ryan of New York called on Biden to forgo reelection.
The comments from the three lawmakers mean that 10 Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for Biden to resign.
NBC News reported that two more House Democrats have told their colleagues that Biden should resign, but have not made any public statements.
Reached for comment Wednesday, a campaign official pointed to a letter Biden sent to lawmakers on Monday in which he reiterated his “commitment to continuing this campaign.”
The official also noted that lawmakers, including from battleground states, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, have publicly endorsed Biden.
“It’s our duty to put up the strongest candidate possible to take on Trump,” Ryan, a moderate Democrat, said on “X.”
“While Joe Biden is a patriot, he is no longer the best candidate to defeat Trump. For the good of our country, I am calling on Joe Biden to step down so he can fulfill his promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leadership,” Ryan said in the post.
He first revealed his position in a telephone interview with The New York Times.
“Biden will go down in history as the most successful president of the last 50 years,” Blumenauer said in a statement, calling the election “not just to extend the presidency, but to protect our democracy.”
“This is a decision for the President and First Lady to make, but I hope they will reach the conclusion, as I and others have, that President Biden should not be the Democratic nominee for president,” he said in a statement.
“This is a painful and difficult decision, but I am certain that we will all be better off if the president steps down as the Democratic nominee and proceeds with a transition on his own terms,” he continued.
Blumenauer, 75, represents a heavily Democratic district and was up for reelection in 2022 with 69.9% of the vote. He joined the House of Representatives in 1996 and represents Portland and parts of the surrounding area.
Ryan, 42, will join Congress in September 2022 and represent New York’s 18th Congressional District, which includes Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties and includes the city of Poughkeepsie.
Ryan, a strong supporter of Biden and who has campaigned with him on multiple occasions, won his seat in the August 2022 special election by campaigning on the impact of overturning Roe v. Wade. The Cook Political Report projects his reelection race in November to be moderately competitive, with Democrats favored.
Ryan’s Republican opponent, Alison Esposito, on Tuesday criticized Ryan for not being honest with voters about Biden’s cognitive abilities.
“It’s long past time for Pat Ryan to be brave and honestly tell his Hudson Valley constituents what’s really going on,” she wrote on Facebook. “Biden is unfit to be president. Rather than acknowledge the truth, Ryan continues to endorse Biden’s failed policies and act as if nothing is wrong.”
Welch is the first senator to explicitly call on Biden to drop out of the race, but others have made similar statements.
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said Tuesday he doesn’t believe Biden can win the November election, but stopped short of saying Biden should withdraw.
Many of Biden’s most powerful allies in Congress have defended him, but some have expressed concern about his ability to win the November election.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Wednesday stopped short of fully endorsing Biden’s continued campaign but said “time is running out” for Biden to decide his political future.
Biden and his aides have sought this week to ease concerns among congressional Democrats following his disappointing performance in last month’s debate with Trump. In a letter to Democratic lawmakers this week, Biden said he wouldn’t run “if I wasn’t convinced I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”
“There was a Democratic nomination process and voters expressed their opinion clearly and decisively,” he wrote.
House Democrats met behind closed doors on Tuesday morning, many of whom had reportedly been told by their leaders not to speak to the media, and left the caucus in silence. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York reiterated his support for Biden as the nominee, but left the meeting saying, “We had a very constructive conversation among House Democrats.”
Asked whether Democrats had reached a deal on Biden, Jeffries said “the conversations are ongoing.”
