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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Democrats' plans to move forward with the confirmation of President Joe Biden as the party's nominee through a virtual roll call vote ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August have sparked outrage.
At least 20 congressional Democrats have called on Biden to quit the race after his poor debate performance in late June magnified concerns about his ability to beat former President Donald Trump in November.
Public calls for Biden to step aside have stopped since an assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, but Democrats on Capitol Hill remain divided over whether Biden should be replaced at the top of the Democratic ticket.
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Biden has repeatedly insisted that he will not leave the race.
The Democratic National Committee announced in May that it would hold an early roll call to ensure Biden would qualify for the ballot in Ohio, which had an August 7 deadline. Lawmakers have since passed legislation to push the deadline to the end of August, but it does not take effect until September 1.
"We certainly are not going to leave the fate of this election in the hands of MAGA Republicans in Ohio that have tried to keep President Biden off of the general election ballot," DNC Chair Jaime Harrison told The New York Times.
"We're moving forward with a virtual roll call, and the timeline for that process remains on schedule and unchanged from when the DNC made that decision in May."
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No formal date for the roll call has been set, and virtual activity cannot begin until after Sunday when the DNC's convention committee is set to meet.
Meanwhile, a letter circulating among House Democrats says it would be "a terrible idea" to stifle debate about the party's nominee with the early roll call vote.
"It could deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats—from delegates, volunteers, grassroots organizers and donors to ordinary voters—at the worst possible time," the letter, which has not yet been sent to the DNC, adds. Details from the letter were first reported by the Times. The Associated Press and Axios also obtained the letter.
Newsweek reached out to the DNC and the Biden campaign via email for comment.
The plan to move forward with the early roll call prompted anger on social media, with 538 founder Nate Silver sparring with Harrison over the decision.
Harrison and the DNC "are blatantly lying about this (Ohio changed its law so there's no reason to nominate Biden early) but the good news is that there very much will be consequences if they force Biden's nomination thru and he loses," Silver wrote on X, formerly Twitter on Tuesday.
Harrison responded, writing that the DNC "started this process in May in response to the OH Secretary of State stating that our convention was after their deadline and no waiver would be provided."
"To not have a presidential candidate on a state ballot would have enormous consequences and impacts on turnout for all races on the ballot," Harrison added. "So you can definitely take that risk and other chances when you Chair a party... I however will not."
G. Elliot Morris, editorial director of data analytics at ABC News, wrote on X that Biden is "currently facing a rebellion in his party over concerns with his ability to rule and w/ this year's primary process... and the DNC's plan is to... ram the nomination through before the party convention."
Morris added: "At the very least you'd expect the unofficial nominee to angle into persuasion or outreach, not just giving a big F U to everyone who has concerns. Does not quite seem like the type of campaign to win over a majority of the party's supporters, who nominees need to win general elections in highly polarized cycles."
Representative Lloyd Doggett, who was the first House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race, said "fast-forwarding the nomination process is no way to convince the many unconvinced voters" in battleground states.
"Those so eager to overly protect President Biden ignore his own words inviting anyone questioning his nomination to do so at the Convention," Doggett said in a statement provided to Newsweek.
"Short-circuiting the normal Convention process jeopardizes the White House, Senate and House."
Representative Jared Huffman of California said Biden "disagreed with the notion that we are on a losing trajectory" on a call with lawmakers over the weekend.
"I continue to believe a major course correction is needed, and that the President and his team have yet to fully acknowledge the problem, much less correct it," he wrote on X.
Biden's deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, said on Tuesday that the virtual roll call was still necessary because lawmakers in Ohio's GOP-controlled legislature could still choose to go back and change the deadline to deny Biden ballot access.
"It is our obligation as a campaign to make sure that President Biden is on the ballot," Fulks said, according to The Associated Press.
Update 7/17/24, 10:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add a statement from Representative Lloyd Doggett.
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