Morning Report — Biden bows out — what happens now?

by Kristina Karisch - 07/22/24 6:25 AM ET

In a stunning move, President Biden on Sunday dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Harris to be his successor. In doing so, the president brought to a close a 50-year political career and broke the presidential race wide open a little more than 100 days before voters head to the polls in November.

Biden, 81, announced he was stepping aside after his physical and mental acuity were called into question following a disastrous prime-time debate performance at the end of June. Since then, more and more Democrats have called for him to end his reelection bid.

“It is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President,” he said in a letter.

He confirmed he will serve out the remainder of his term.

Harris said Sunday that she intends to “earn and win” the Democratic presidential nomination and vowed in a statement to defeat Republican nominee former President Trump. His top campaign advisers came out swinging against Harris on Sunday, calling her “even worse” than Biden and saying she has been his “enabler in chief.”

Trump himself told CBS News he was unsure who would be the Democrats’ nominee, but it wouldn’t affect the way he proceeds with his campaign.

THE PRESIDENT MADE his announcement from his home in Delaware, where he has been isolating with COVID-19 since testing positive Wednesday. His campaign gave no indication he would step down in the last several days; instead, reports emerged of a frustrated Biden, determined to continue his candidacy. Top Democrats started the day on the Sunday talk show circuit, insisting Biden would remain in the race.

In the afternoon, staffers described learning of the announcement “a minute” before the public, when Biden’s letter went live on social media. Harris herself was told on the same day.

▪ The New York Times: What happened in the final moments as Biden decided to withdraw.

▪ NBC News: Biden’s decision was tightly held, with one integral member of Biden’s re-election team finding out after a family member read a news alert.

▪ The Washington Post: A look at Biden’s long career, from being elected as one of the nation’s youngest senators in 1972 to becoming the nation’s oldest president in 2021.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Biden’s decision raises a multitude of questions about the future of the presidential race. Congressional Democrats and blue-state governors quickly moved to back Harris on Sunday, though the process to replace the party’s nominee leaves more questions than answers. In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said the party “will undertake a transparent and orderly process” to pick the nominee, without offering specifics. The DNC’s Rules Committee, which helps oversee the nomination process, will meet Wednesday afternoon.

Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how Democrats can select their next candidate. And here are the options for the DNC’s next moves.

▪ NOTUS: Democrats considering running against the vice president are at a serious disadvantage — structurally and, with some delegates, emotionally.

▪ The Hill’s The Memo: If Harris claims the nomination prize, the war to win November’s general election will be much tougher.

AS SHE RACES to lock down support,a running list of congressional Democrats endorsed Harris, from the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Also on the list: labor unions and key blue-state governors, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — possible rivals who instead moved to support Harris as the new nominee. And in a unanimous vote, all 50 state Democratic party chairs on Sunday threw their weight behind Harris.

Notably absent? Congressional leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Pelosi was a leader in the push to get Biden to step aside; she and the president spoke about the impact his debate performance could have on his legacy.

Their silence does not necessarily reflect a lack of confidence in or support for Harris, as some Democrats viewed Sunday as being about Biden.

“People are holding back because there’s a certain amount of respect that Joe Biden is due on this day and, frankly, for the rest of his days on this planet for what he is and what he has done,” former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told MSNBC.

Still, there’s relatively little polling that shows how Harris would fare in a hypothetical match-up against Trump. What is clear from head-to-head polling is that the general trend has gotten a lot better for Harris. She was underperforming Biden in polls against Trump a year ago. Around the time of Biden’s June debate, she began to perform about evenly. In July, several recent surveys showed Harris doing the same as Biden against Trump — or just slightly better. According to a DecisionDeskHQ and The Hill average of polls, Trump leads Harris by 2 points, 47 percent support to 45 percent. Biden fared similarly against the former president.

Then there’s the million-dollar question: Can Harris inherit Biden’s war chest, originally intended for the Biden-Harris ticket? Biden’s campaign recently reported just more than $91 million on hand, but allied Democratic campaign committees brought the total at his disposal to more than $240 million. The Republican National Committee is already contemplating lawsuits related to the potential transfer. But the short answer, according to Federal Election Commission Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum, is yes, since Harris was already on the campaign’s registration statement (The Hill and The New York Times).

“It’s very clear,” Lindenbaum told the Times. “If Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, she gets to use all the money in the account.”

Small dollar-donors gave nearly $47 million on ActBlue in the seven hours after Harris’s campaign for president launched Sunday afternoon (The Hill).

▪ Semafor: Wall Street Democrats are lining up behind Harris with a mixture of relief and genuine enthusiasm.

▪ The Hill: Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) is pondering re-registering as a Democrat and running for the nomination. Manchin has long been a thorn in Democrats’ side, even as he helped deliver Biden some of his signature policy achievements, and his chances against Harris would be slim.

And who would run alongside her? From Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, these are some of the Democrats who could boost a Harris ticket.

Though the next few days will be rife with uncertainty among Democrats as they scramble to put together a new ticket ahead of their August convention, The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports that on Sunday, they exhaled. Minutes after Biden’s announcement, Democrats said they were relieved by the decision. The stalemate over the president’s future, they said, was horrible for their party and was putting them in even deeper jeopardy of losing in November.

“Let’s go,” said one major bundler who was looking for Biden to hand the reins to Harris. “Nothing against the president. He’s a hero. But things were spiraling and now we have a chance.”

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

▪ Foreign leaders praised Biden’s qualities as a leader and achievements strengthening global alliances following his decision to drop out.

▪ Political analysts and historians weigh in on an unprecedented moment in American politics.

▪ Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayrokas named a panel of experts to conduct an independent review of the assassination attempt on Trump.

LEADING THE DAY

© The Associated Press / Matt Rourke | Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), pictured at the Republican National Convention with former President Trump, was among Republicans to call for President Biden to step down.

MORE IN POLITICS

House Republicans called on Biden to resign from office after his Sunday announcement, arguing that he should not continue to serve in the White House if he is unable to run for another term.

“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on the social platform X. “November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) didn’t call out Biden by name, but criticized the Democrats more broadly, blaming them for inflation and weak international leadership. Biden and McConnell had a long history serving together in the Senate, sometimes able to negotiate across the aisle to produce compromises on government spending and other legislation (The Wall Street Journal).

The Hill: A top Trump super PAC rolled out a new ad panning Harris shortly after Biden announced plans to step aside from the Democratic ticket.

ABORTION, one of the defining issues of the 2024 campaign, was mostly absent from this year’s Republican convention, underlining the party’s desire to sidestep its own push to enact restrictive abortion policies in red states across the country — and the degree to which Trump has shifted the party’s rhetoric on the issue. Abortion is viewed as perhaps the party’s biggest vulnerability headed into November, the first presidential election since a conservative majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (The Hill).

Meanwhile, Biden’s endorsement of Harris gives Democrats the opportunity to elevate an eager and consistent messenger on abortion rights — having already become the administration’s leading voice in the fight for reproductive rights (The 19th).

2024 Roundup

▪ Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sees Harris as indistinguishable from Biden. In a press conference on Sunday evening, the independent candidate reinforced that he is able to beat both Trump and Biden — despite Biden announcing hours earlier that he is exiting the race.

▪ Biden is one of few presidents to end a reelection campaign: Who were the others?

▪ Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) predicted that Democrats will likely lose in November if the party fails to quickly unify behind a single presidential candidate

▪ A Democratic House primary in Arizona is attracting attention from GOP donors and a super PAC funded by cryptocurrency industry leaders, who are throwing their weight behind one side.

▪ LGBTQ Americans and advocacy groups are sounding alarm bells over Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s selection as Trump’s running mate. In addition to a history of anti-LGBTQ statements, he is the primary sponsor of at least two pieces of federal legislation threatening to sharply roll back transgender rights.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will meet at noon.

The Senate will convene at 11:30 a.m. for a pro forma session.

The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.

Vice President Harris will speak at a South Lawn event celebrating 2023-2024 season NCAA teams.

ZOOM IN

HEAT & ENVIRONMENT

THE RISING FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY of extreme heat events are exacerbating the health and safety concerns of America’s elderly — an already vulnerable community that’s growing fast. The population of Americans 65 or older ballooned from roughly 40 million to 56 million between 2010 and 2020, and it is projected to grow by another 17 million by the end of this decade. At the same time, temperatures are swelling around the world, shattering heat records and contributing to an increase in wildfires.

Tarik Benmarhnia, an associate professor in climate change epidemiology at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, described extreme heat as “a huge, silent and sneaky killer.”

PLASTIC: The Biden administration announced a commitment to phase out single-use plastics across the federal government on Friday, marking a significant step in tackling the growing plastic pollution crisis. According to a report detailing the White House’s plan, the federal government is the largest buyer of consumer goods in the world, and this action could “significantly impact the supply” of these ubiquitous plastic products.

The administration set a goal to phase out purchases “of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.”

The New York Times: Ford, General Motors and other automakers are slowing investments in electric vehicles and doubling down on more profitable gasoline cars and trucks.

ELSEWHERE

INTERNATIONAL

TRUMP’S CROWNING as the Republican presidential nominee has cemented for America’s international allies and partners the necessity of building goodwill with the Trump camp. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone Friday amid the former president’s assertions that he can negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Rachael Dean Wilson, managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund, told The Hill she’s hearing more from diplomats about the importance of fanning out across the U.S. to meet with local and state politicians.

“I’ve talked to a number of diplomats from different countries that are engaging in — not only going to the [Republican and Democratic conventions] — but almost like listening tours in the United States,” she said.

Israeli fighter jets conducted an airstrike in Yemen on Saturday in retaliation for the Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv last Thursday, Axios reports. The attack marked the first time that Israel has directly attacked Yemen, more than 1,000 miles away. Meanwhile, Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday, striking areas where thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes have been seeking shelter (Reuters).

Al Jazeera: Everything to know about Israeli and Houthi attacks amid the war in Gaza.

OPINION

■ What Biden just did is utterly extraordinary, by Frank Bruni, contributor, The New York Times.

■ Trump gives an assist to Democrats, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board.

THE CLOSER

And finally … It’s not just us humans battling the brutal summer temperatures. Animals, too, are feeling the heat, and in Florida, zookeepers are coming up with creative ways to keep their charges cool and entertained.

Zookeepers at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society have been throwing large piles of ice into the black bear enclosure for the animals to wallow in. The otters, meanwhile, are playing with and eating ice blocks and frozen fish. Tigers are given more ingenious treats: They get frozen cow bones crammed into blocks of ice, along with a side of frozen goat milk. They also like to swim.

“Even though all of our animals are acclimatized to the South Florida weather, they look for ways to cool off during the hot days, just like we do,” said Mike Terrell, the zoo’s curator of animal experiences. “All of our animals that we have here at the zoo were specifically chosen because they’re used to warm climates. And so they’re totally happy in a high, high heat, high humidity environment.”

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