Washington
CNN
—
The Democratic National Committee is moving ahead with its controversial plan to nominate President Joe Biden virtually ahead of the Democratic convention in Chicago next month, ignoring growing calls from some party elected officials to abandon the strategy amid serious, ongoing debate over whether the president should run for a second term.
According to an email sent to members of the congressional rules committee and obtained by CNN, the committee will hold a previously scheduled meeting on Friday to deliberate — and begin setting in motion — the steps and timeline for Biden’s virtual nomination.
The letter specifically states that “no virtual voting will begin before August 1” — a new decision that appears intended to address anger within the party fueled by reporting by CNN and other media that some of Biden’s allies have been quietly pushing for an expedited virtual vote.
Wednesday’s letter, which makes clear that the DNC is doubling down on its virtual nominating plan, now sets a key deadline for Democrats to resolve questions surrounding Biden’s candidacy. While it’s possible that the party will revisit the results of the convention vote in Chicago, the DNC has long made clear that it’s committed to locking in its nominee before the convention begins — and specifically by Aug. 7, which it says is crucial to ensuring ballot access in a state like Ohio.
“Our discussion on Friday about how the Convention will function will include a discussion of a virtual voting element, which will conclude before the physical Convention,” the letter said. “We will explain below the reasoning behind why a virtual vote is the most sensible approach, and explain how a virtual vote would work.”
A growing group of House Democrats believe Biden is too politically damaged to defeat Donald Trump in November. As a result, the DNC is calling for a virtual nomination to be scrapped altogether. A draft letter is circulating among Democratic lawmakers urging the party to slow down the process, CNN reported.
In Wednesday’s letter, the co-chairs of the rules committee alluded to reports from Biden allies hoping to speed up the virtual call, writing: “Regardless of what is reported, our goal is not to expedite the process.”
“All this will not happen in haste,” they said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was involved in the lobbying campaign by Democrats to delay the DNC’s virtual vote until after Aug. 1, multiple sources said. Jeffries was voicing concerns he heard from his members, many of whom were outraged that the DNC was considering holding the vote next week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also pushed for the delay, a source familiar with the matter said.
Jeffries has publicly maintained that he supports Biden for president, amid growing panic among Democratic ranks over Biden’s chances.
In an interview with CNN News Central on Wednesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a co-chair of the DNC’s rules committee and one of the authors of the letter, also rejected suggestions that the DNC is trying to speed up Biden’s nomination.
“No, I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to get into conspiracy theories. The Republicans own the market,” Walz said. “Look, this is the process that we’ve been through. There’s nothing going to happen on Friday other than setting the rules. Again, if our convention had been held last month, nobody would be talking about this, but we’ve got to get the job done,” he added.
He pointed to the original reasoning behind the virtual roll call process, which was intended to sidestep an Ohio challenge that threatened to remove Biden from the state’s ballot if he wasn’t nominated by Aug. 7. Ohio lawmakers have since passed legislation to eliminate that challenge, but the DNC has raised the possibility of a legal challenge from Ohio Republicans if they move forward with the virtual roll call.
In their letter, Walz and co-chair Leah Daughtry defend virtual voting “because it ensures access to the ballot box in the states we need to win in November and avoids potential risks if there are delays in the process.” In addition to Ohio, Walz and Daughtry cite other state deadlines that fall during the in-person convention, some of which they say require documents to be submitted in person.
“We cannot and must not allow these timing complications to jeopardize the likelihood of a Democratic election outcome in must-win states,” they say.
Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the first House member to publicly call for Biden’s withdrawal, said Wednesday that the DNC should drop the call for a virtual roll call.
“My call for President Biden to resign remains even more urgent. Our decision must take into account the reality of steadily deteriorating poll numbers, not just more wishful thinking. The risk of Trump tyranny is so great that we must put forward our strongest candidate.”
He added of the DNC: “Speeding up the nomination process is not a way to convince the many unconvinced voters in the growing number of swing states. Those so eager to overly protect President Biden are ignoring his own words inviting anyone who questions his nomination to do so at the Convention.”
Rep. Jared Huffman, a progressive Democrat from California, told CNN on Tuesday that there is a “growing number of members” who have concerns about virtual call-out voting, calling it a “terrible idea” and a “dumb thing.”
“If the election were held today, he would be crushed,” Huffman said of Biden. “We have to do something about it.”
A spokesperson for Huffman told CNN that in light of the DNC letter to hold a virtual roll call in August, they will not be sending their formal letter urging the party to delay Biden’s nomination, which was circulated earlier this week. Huffman had drafted a letter to House Democrats asking them to delay Biden’s nomination until delegates were assembled at the convention.
The spokesman said the California congressman is pleased that the pressure members put on the DNC not to hold a virtual nominee list before the end of July was successful.
CNN’s Ethan Cohen and Manu Raju contributed to this report.