Biden troubles loom over Democrats' return to Washington

Democratic lawmakers are returning to Washington on Monday with President Biden’s reelection troubles looming large, as the party remains split over whether the incumbent should carry on with his bid for the White House after last month’s disastrous debate.

In the House, five Democrats have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race, and at least four senior lawmakers voiced support for that course of action during a private phone call over the weekend. In the Senate, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is working to gather support among Democratic senators to ask Biden to step down.

A handful of lawmakers in both chambers, meanwhile, have publicly backed Biden amid the post-debate fallout, and the president himself has been adamant that he intends to remain in the race, creating a harsh divide in the Democratic Party over the future of the Democratic ticket, with just weeks to go until next month’s convention.

Those dynamics are set to come to a head this week, when Democratic lawmakers return to the Capitol amid questions about Biden’s viability as the party’s nominee, and as leaders face pressure to respond to the growing discontent with the incumbent.

Also this week, the Senate is set to vote on a bill to establish a national right to an abortion before the third trimester of pregnancy, codifying a protection from Roe v. Wade. House lawmakers, meanwhile, will vote on a measure to ban non-citizens from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal.

Biden troubles loom over Congress’s return

Two divided Democratic Caucuses are returning to Washington this week amid a tumultuous time for the party, with several lawmakers calling on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 election, others publicly backing the incumbent, and the president steadfast in his belief that he is the best candidate to take on former President Trump in November.

Those opinions are set to collide on Capitol Hill Monday, when both chambers return to session. It will be the first time Senators are back in the building and face reporters since the debate, and the second time for House members.

For House Democrats, conversations are expected to be underway Tuesday morning, when the caucus will meet as a group for the first time since the debate.

The chorus of voices calling on the president to step aside grew ahead of that meeting on Sunday afternoon, with Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) — all committee ranking members — expressing support for a change at the top of the ticket during a private phone call.

That quartet joins Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who have publicly called on Biden to step aside.

In the meantime, however, a handful of Democratic lawmakers — including leaders and veteran members — have publicly backed Biden’s reelection bid, highlighting the disagreements within the caucus. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), for example, wrote in a statement Sunday: “Any ‘leader’ calling for President Biden to drop out needs to get their priorities straight and stop undermining this incredible actual leader who has delivered real results for our country.”

At the center of the contentious debate will be House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who listened to different opinions in his caucus last week and will be peppered with questions about his thoughts on the matter this week.

Jeffries after the debate said he did not think Biden should step aside, but raised eyebrows when he told reporters hours later: “Until he articulates a way forward in terms of his vision for America at this moment, I’m gonna reserve comment about anything relative to where we are at this moment other than to say I stand behind the ticket.”

In the Senate, meanwhile, Warner has been working to drum up support among other Democrats in the chamber to ask Biden to end his reelection bid, a concerning sign for the president. Axios had reported that Warner was leading efforts to organize a meeting Monday night to discuss Biden’s campaign, but a source familiar with the Virginia Democrat’s thinking told The Hill Sunday night that the huddle would not happen.

No Senate Democrats have publicly called on Biden to step aside, but cracks in that support have emerged. In addition to Warner’s behind-the-scenes efforts, Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have both publicly criticized the Biden campaign’s response to the election fallout.

Biden, for his part, tried to quell the panic within the party through an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos Friday night, though some Democrats said he did not achieve that goal.

“The interview didn’t put concerns to rest,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “No single interview is going to do that.”

Senate to vote on bill to protect abortion access

The Senate this week is set to vote on a bill that would create a national right to an abortion before the third trimester of pregnancy — reestablishing a protection that was afforded under Roe v. Wade — marking the latest attempt by Senate Democrats to put a spotlight on reproductive rights ahead of the election.

A Senate Democratic leadership aide told The Hill that the upper chamber is poised to vote on the legislation later this week.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tee-d up a vote on the legislation — titled the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act — last month, setting the stage for the third vote this summer on protecting women’s reproductive rights.

Schumer, in setting up the vote, took aim at Republicans for their stances on women’s reproductive rights, a common form of messaging from Democrats in the Capitol and on the campaign train after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“Republicans cannot escape a simple reality: their record on women’s health care is dangerously out of step with the views of most Americans,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Action on the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act follows votes on two bills in the Senate last month that would create a federal right to birth control and establish a national right to in vitro fertilization (IVF), both of which were rejected by Republicans in the chamber.

House to vote on elections bill

The House this week is slated to vote on a bill that would ban non-citizens from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the measure — titled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) met with Trump and spoke about the idea in April, when the top Republican was facing an ouster threat from a small group of GOP lawmakers.

Johnson previously told reporters that, based on intuition, non-U.S. citizens were voting in American elections. Ever since 1996, however, federal law has prohibited noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

In a floor lookout Sunday night, the office of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) claimed that while noncitizens are barred from voting in federal elections, some “continue to unlawfully register to vote, diluting the votes of American citizens and potentially allowing foreign interference in our elections.”

For that reason, they argued, the legislation at hand is needed.

“House Republicans are bringing legislation to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, as well as allow states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, to keep foreign interference out of our elections, maintain election integrity, and increase American citizens’ trust in our federal elections,” the floor lookout reads.