Senate Democrats raise concerns about early certification of Biden nomination

Some Senate Democrats have raised concerns, publicly and privately, about the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) plan to certify Joe Biden’s nomination for president weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which may have factored into the decision to hold off on virtual proceedings until August.

Senate Democrats who are skeptical about Biden’s prospects of beating former President Trump in November haven’t entirely given up hope of finding another nominee before the November election, despite President Biden’s repeated insistence that he’s going to stay in the race until the end.

But the discussion among Democratic lawmakers is highly sensitive, and Democrats on Capitol Hill have been reluctant to outright challenge the DNC’s rulemakers, fearing that a messy battle with Biden’s allies on the committee will only further hurt the party’s brand.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Bishop Leah Daughtry, the co-chairs of the DNC’s rules committee, released a letter Wednesday announcing that a virtual roll call won’t take place before Aug. 1, but the committee still plans to schedule a virtual proceeding to certify the party’s nominee for president by Aug. 7.

This would give Biden’s critics in the party only three weeks to convince the president Biden to drop his reelection bid or rally around another candidate for the nomination.

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2-ranking Senate Democrat, questioned the idea of holding an early roll vote to certify Biden’s nomination while the debate continues to rage among his colleagues about whether to keep Biden atop the ticket.

“I think there’s a concern shared by all the members of the caucus that we be in as strong a position to not only win the election but to govern, but we’re watching carefully to see how the Biden campaign develops,” Durbin said last week. “Credible polls are an important part of our business.”

Asked about certifying Biden’s nomination virtually before the convention, Durbin said he’s “skeptical of these clever approaches of reinventing conventions and the nomination process.”

Other Democratic senators have expressed strong reservations about certifying Biden’s nomination weeks before delegates meet in person in Chicago on Aug. 19.

A person familiar with internal Senate Democratic caucus discussions said other senators have voiced their own concerns privately.

“My boss thought they were trying to force things through … and that it was heavy-handed and it was going to backfire,” said the source.

Some Senate Democrats have balked at the Biden campaign’s and the DNC’s efforts to stamp out dissent within the party about sticking with Biden as its nominee for president.

A source familiar with internal discussions said Democratic senators are not pleased with how “brutally the White House has been handling it, whether it’s Biden’s aggressive tactics” or the “bitterness” of the pushback from his allies.

Biden got into a sharp exchange with Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) during a Zoom call with House Democrats after the lawmaker asked whether Biden’s age and stamina posed a risk to national security.

“I don’t want to hear that crap,” Biden said hotly in response to the criticism.  

Democratic Party officials had floated the idea of holding virtual proceedings to certify Biden’s nomination in late July but then backed off Wednesday after pushback from Democratic lawmakers.

House Democrats led by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) had circulated a draft letter addressed to the DNC warning that a holding an early vote to certify Biden’s nomination would be a “terrible idea.”

Democratic lawmakers warned that cutting off the discussion about Biden’s viability as candidate with a virtual roll call of delegates in late July would “undermine the morale and unity of Democrats.”

Calls to replace Biden as the party’s nominee have only gained steam in recent days, as new polls show him losing ground to Trump in battleground states.

Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the Democratic nominee for the California Senate seat, told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that Biden should drop out of the race.

While acknowledging the “choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone,” Schiff said it’s time for the president to “pass the torch.”

Some Democratic senators said last week they hoped to resolve the uncertainty about who would lead their party’s ticket before a virtual roll call of the delegates in late July.

“The DNC rules committee made that decision when they thought that Ohio’s legal requirements needed an earlier [certification] vote,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who has expressed “concerns” about Biden’s ability to win reelection after his disastrous debate performance.

Smith noted that the DNC decided to hold an early virtual certification of Biden’s nomination because the Ohio Legislature had initially set an Aug. 7 deadline to put Biden on the state’s ballot.

But she pointed out that Ohio’s state House had since passed legislation that pushed the deadline back to ensure Biden would appear on the ballot.

She argued an early roll call of the delegates is “not required any law or any external force” but added “it’s going to be up to the [DNC] rules committee to decide what to do.”

But Smith expressed her hope the party would resolve the situation soon.

“I don’t think we need more time to hash this out,” she said.

The DNC’s rules committee is scheduled to meet Friday, when party officials will explain why they believe a virtual roll call is needed.

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison on Tuesday defended the decision to hold an early roll call vote.

He explained in a social media post that the party committee began planning for an early certification of the nomination in May, and argued that current Ohio law requires that the Democratic Party certify its nominee by Aug. 7 to ensure it will have its candidate for president on the November ballot.

And while Harrison acknowledged that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) had signed a law in early June to delay the ballot certification deadline, the new law won’t take effect until 90 days after enactment, which is Sept. 1.

“So if we did nothing, then from August 7th – September 6th, we would not be in compliance with OH law,” he posted on social platform X.