A pack of House Democrats is making a Hail Mary play to stave off a plan by the Democratic National Committee to crown President Joe Biden as its nominee weeks before the party’s August convention, according to multiple reports.
The letter, first obtained by The New York Times, demands that the DNC pump the brakes on a virtual roll call vote expected to cement Biden’s nomination as early as July 21.
“There is no legal justification for this extraordinary and unprecedented action which would effectively accelerate the nomination process by nearly a month,” the letter reads, going to on to call the plan a “terrible idea” that would have a chilling effect on party process, “stifling debate and prematurely shutting down any possible change in the Democratic ticket.”
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The Times reported that the letter was drafted by Rep. Jared Huffman, who began circulating it among his colleagues on Monday. (The Associated Press disputed that, reporting that Huffman was not “taking the lead” in circulating the letter.) The California Democrat denied that he personally drafted the letter in an interview with Axios.
“I just think it’s a terrible idea for the DNC to do this,” he said, “I just think people see right through it, and at a time when we have this huge enthusiasm gap with the Republicans, to do a stunt like this is just going to make it worse.”
More than 20 Democratic lawmakers had signed onto the letter as of Tuesday, according to NBC News. As many as 19 Democrats on Capitol Hill have publicly called for Biden to step aside and allow another nominee to take his place, an outpouring that comes after the president’s dire debate performance last month.
The crossover between the crop of outspoken legislators and letter signatories was not immediately clear. Reps. Susan Wild (D-PA), Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Pat Ryan (D-NY) all told Axios they planned to sign on. Quigley and Ryan have asked Biden to abandon his re-election bid, while Wild has expressed concern about his electability.
“Regardless of whether President Biden remains our nominee, Democratic unity and enthusiasm will be critical between now and November 5th,” the letter emphasizes, “respectfully but emphatically” requesting that the virtual roll call be canceled.
“The Democratic Party must nominate its presidential ticket at the Democratic National Convention, in regular order, as we always have,” it states.
But DNC leaders are committed to forging ahead, four people familiar with the matter told the Times.
“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,” committee chairman Jaime Harrison told the newspaper in a statement. “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.”
The decision to hold the early roll call was announced by the party back in May, made in response to procedural concerns that Biden might not otherwise qualify for the ballot in Ohio. Frank LaRose, Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, had threatened to keep Biden’s name off the ballot if, according to state law, he wasn’t nominated at least 90 days before the general election on Nov. 5.
The state has since changed the rules around the issue, bringing the requirement down to 65 days—thereby nullifying the need for the roll call to be held before the convention, the letter argues.
Not every Democratic official feels that way, however. Three former chairs of the DNC—Donna Brazile, Howard Dean, and Terry McAuliffe—sent a separate letter to committee members urging them to back the roll call, ABC News reported on Tuesday.
“A different approach risks disenfranchising millions of voters and clouding the Democratic path to victory,” their letter says, referencing lingering worries about Ohio’s certification process. The law bringing the nomination requirement down to 65 days does not go into effect until Aug. 31, after the Democratic National Convention has taken place.
No formal date has been set for the roll call, according to the DNC.
