Biden campaign turning focus to policy
Some congressional Democrats have begun circulating a letter to Democratic National Committee members urging them to cancel plans to formalize President Biden's nomination in an early virtual roll call vote before the Democratic National Convention in August. That vote is expected to be held as soon as July 21.
The letter, obtained by CBS News, says, "We respectfully but emphatically request that you cancel any plans for an accelerated 'virtual roll call' and further refrain from any extraordinary procedures that could be perceived as curtailing legitimate debate or attempting to force an early resolution of the party nomination."
The DNC originally moved to a virtual roll call because of an Ohio law requiring political parties to certify their presidential nominees by Aug. 7. Although Ohio has now extended that deadline to Sept. 1, the Democratic Party, with the support of the Biden campaign, says it's keeping the virtual roll call in place because it distrusts state Republicans and is concerned about further litigation, since the new state deadline is not yet in effect.
"We're not going to leave it up to Ohio Republicans to not have President Biden on the ballot in every single state," Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said in a press conference Tuesday.
Before Saturday's assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, a growing number of House Democratic lawmakers were calling on Mr. Biden to relinquish the presidential nomination after a shaky debate performance in which he struggled to make himself heard, lost his train of thought and failed to effectively confront Trump on several false statements he made.
Since Saturday, those calls quieted, but the concerns never went away, and this now-public attempt to stop the virtual roll call suggests uncertainty about the president's place on the ticket remains.
The letter notes that since Ohio moved its deadline, "there is no serious threat to the Democratic ticket nominated in regular order at next month's DNC convention appearing on the ballot in Ohio or any other state." And therefore, there's "no longer any legal reason for moving forward with the extraordinary step of an early nomination by way of a 'virtual roll call,'" the letter says.
It also points out that without a strong legal justification, the virtual roll call "will be rightly perceived as a purely political maneuver" and could undermine the party, the morale and enthusiasm of Democratic voters.
It's unclear how many lawmakers may have signed the letter and if or when it will be sent. One source told CBS News that the draft letter was circulating Tuesday among a group of 50 lawmakers. But at least four lawmakers contacted Tuesday said they had not seen the draft or yet been contacted about it. One member of Congress involved in efforts to replace Mr. Biden on the ticket said that there was an understanding that the virtual roll call would be delayed.
A separate source told CBS News that members representing different parts of the House Democratic caucus are involved in circulating the letter, including Rep. Jared Huffman, a progressive Democrat from California.
In a statement to CBS News, Huffman's campaign said, "Rep. Huffman and other members are very concerned with this extraordinary attempt to speed up the nomination and do not think brute force is the way to achieve unity and enthusiasm."
The letter was first reported by the New York Times.
Another Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, has not said whether he signed the letter but expressed concern about the virtual roll call.
"They'd really have to explain to me why it's necessary to go forward with something like this earlier than the convention," Kim told reporters.
Mr. Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee, having clinched the nomination in March, and he has nearly all of the 3,949 pledged delegates. He would have to voluntarily give up the nomination and cannot be forced off the ticket. The president has said it would take "the Lord Almighty" to coax him to step down and has repeatedly said he is staying in the race.
And in his news conference last week, the president was asked if his team showed him data that Vice President Kamala Harris would perform better than he would against Trump, would he reconsider? " No," Mr. Biden replied, "unless they came back and said, 'There's no way you can win.'" But he added, "No one is saying that. No poll says that."
If, however, he did decide to step aside and did so before accepting the nomination, it would be up to the nearly 4,000 delegates to choose the Democratic nominee.
But if he were to exit the race after accepting the nomination, it's the members of the DNC – about 300 national, state and local party officials — who would select Mr. Biden's and Vice President Harris' replacement.
The date or dates for a virtual roll call have not been set, although a meeting Friday of the rules committee of the Democratic National Convention represents the next formal step in the process.
DNC members have told CBS News they're hearing the virtual roll call dates being discussed are from July 21-27, or from July 29-Aug. 5, to allow for time to train the delegates in the process.
DNC Chair Jamie Harrison denied that discussions about a timeline for the virtual roll call have accelerated.
"The timeline for the virtual roll call process remains on schedule and unchanged from when the DNC made that decision in May," he said. "We look forward to nominating Joe Biden through a virtual roll call and celebrating with fanfare together in Chicago in August alongside the 99 percent of delegates who are supporting the Biden-Harris ticket."
CBS News election law contributor David Becker points out that the uncertainty about the Democratic nomination is playing out at a time that is "well in advance of the ballot deadlines in the states," so the party will have sufficient time to set its nominees before the ballots are printed.
Becker also noted that it's the DNC that "has the absolute right to set rules regarding selecting its nominee."
Some DNC members have been skeptical of using Ohio's previous Aug. 7 deadline as a crutch, with one saying it's a "BS line" and that they're "pushing to nominate Biden before Chicago's convention" – and before any potential late-minute challengers try to make a move at the convention. For now, while some DNC members have proposed alternate paths forward, there is no mechanism to "kick off" Mr. Biden from the Democratic ticket.
"Ohio isn't special. Any state could attempt to restrict ballot access. It wouldn't stand," they added.
Nikole Killion is a CBS News congressional correspondent based in Washington D.C. As a correspondent, Killion played a key role in the Network's 2020 political and election coverage, reporting from around the country during the final stretch of the campaign and throughout the Biden transition.