Darren SamuelsohnSarah D. Wire
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WASHINGTON - Capitol Hill is headed for a
historic and pivotal week with the trajectory of the 2024 presidential
campaign very much on the line.
Lawmakers return from their Fourth of July holiday recess with Democrats
facing mounting questions about whether they will band together and
urge President Joe Biden to nix his reelection campaign amid serious
concerns the 81-year-old incumbent is not up to the job of serving four more
years.Time is short. Biden continues to blame a minor illness for his poor
performance in the recent debate with presumptive Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump and says that he has no intention of giving up his spot
atop the Democratic ticket with a little more than a month to go before
accepting his party¡¯s nomination in Chicago. The politics are expected to
change come Monday when congressional Democrats who so far have been hedging
in public over what they think Biden should do will be seeing their own
colleagues face to face in the nation's capital. Over the last two weeks,
everyone has been hearing directly from voters in their districts and states
about the president¡¯s mental fitness and capacity to keep doing his
job. ¡°We¡¯re in unprecedented territory, the likes of which we¡¯ve rarely seen
in this country,¡± Jim Manley, a former spokesman for Democratic Sens. Harry
Reid, D-Nev., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., told USA TODAY. ¡°Everybody should
hang on because it¡¯s about to get wild.¡±Added Henry Waxman, a former House
Democrat who served for 40 years in Congress: "This is a seminal moment, and
I think the decision has to be made very soon."One hand is still needed to
count the number of elected Democratic lawmakers willing to call publicly
for Biden to leave the 2024 campaign. But the list started growing in
private on Sunday. Whether it adds up in a significant enough way to upend
this year¡¯s presidential campaign remains unclear, though party leaders
acknowledge the coming days will be critical in assessing the path
ahead. ¡°Let's just be honest, I think there are still questions out there in
the minds of many voters,¡± Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Sunday on CNN.
¡°I think there's no doubt that the president's performance at the debate has
raised questions for voters, not questions about his character or his
decency, or who he cares about or who he fights for, but questions as to
whether this is still the old Joe Biden.¡±So far, Biden has dismissed those
who have been calling for his ouster. During an interview on Friday with ABC
News, the president said he¡¯d been speaking with lawmakers who have been
encouraging him to stay in the race. Against that backdrop, Murphy called
this upcoming week in Washington ¡°absolutely critical.¡± In an interview on
Sunday, Waxman said he expected the number of lawmakers seeking Biden's
ouster will get bigger once they're back in Washington. But the former
congressman added that he's not sure yet what difference that would make
with the incumbent president."It's just really trying to influence a man who
he himself claims is quite stubborn," Waxman told USA TODAY.
Congress returns to Washington on Monday
Until now, elected officials have also been able to lay low and make news on
their own time regarding Biden through scheduled interviews, their favorite
social media, carefully-crafted statements and stage-managed events.
That changes on Monday, when the hallways of the U.S. Capitol are expected
to be teeming with reporters eager to hear from Democrats in particular
about whether they¡¯re ready to break with Biden or stand by the undeniable
leader of their party.¡°I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t want to talk,¡± former Sen. Trent
Lott, a Mississippi Republican who spent more than four decades in Congress,
told USA TODAY on Sunday. ¡°They face a tough decision. They don¡¯t want to be
disloyal. They don¡¯t want to hurt themselves politically in a presidential
election year, but they¡¯re going to have to face the reality of the
situation of President Biden.¡± Biden¡¯s health and capacity to lead the
country has been the source of nonstop behind-the-scenes discussions among
party leaders and rank-and-file members since the June 27 debate against
Trump. But those talks are anything but easy since posing the question of
whether Biden should step down almost instantly becomes a larger
conversation about how to (and who would) replace the president for Election
Day, as well as what all of this means for the party¡¯s chances in November
in their races for the White House and in both chambers of Congress. "This
is not as clear cut as anybody wants it to be,¡± Rep. Debbie Dingell,
D-Mich., said on CNN on Sunday, noting that she heard from voters during the
congressional recess that they don¡¯t want Biden to drop out of the race.
Those internal Democratic conversations are
going to start moving even faster in the hours and days ahead. House
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., huddled with key Democratic
committee leaders on Sunday. The result: multiple media reports that Reps.
Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Adam Smith, D-Wash., Mark Takano, D-Calif., and Joe
Morelle, D-N.Y., wanted Biden to stand down. Members of the House return on
Monday for an early evening series of votes. Across the Capitol, the Senate
resumes business Monday afternoon and with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y., presiding over a weekly policy lunch Tuesday with Democrats.