Biden bombshell to echo across Capitol Hill as lawmakers return
President Biden’s announcement that he will no longer seek re-election to the White House is set to reverberate across Capitol Hill this week, as lawmakers return to Washington amid a new political environment and an unsettled presidential race.
The news — which shook the U.S., especially Washington — is already rocking the Democratic Party, with some lawmakers racing to endorse Vice President Harris as the nominee, which Biden did immediately after his announcement, and others are pushing for an open process.
Notably, top Democrats in Congress — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) — stopped short of endorsing Harris on Sunday, raising questions about the path forward ahead of next month’s convention.
Also this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver an address to a joint meeting of Congress, a highly anticipated speech that will put a spotlight on long-running divisions in the Democratic Party over Israel. House lawmakers will also focus on probing last weekend’s assassination attempt on former President Trump, which has led to overwhelming scrutiny of the U.S. Secret Service.
On the Senate side, pressure is sure to mount on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to resign from his seat after he was found guilty of bribery, acting as a foreign agent and other charges. The New Jersey Democrat has remained defiant that he has no plans to bow out of the upper chamber.
Biden drops out, rocking Capitol Hill
Biden’s decision not to seek re-election in November will be the talk of the town on Capitol Hill this week, as Democrats chart their path forward amid unchartered waters, Republicans call on Biden to resign from the White House, and members of both parties adjust to the new political environment that is taking shape less than four months to the November election.
Scores of Democratic lawmakers rallied around Harris in the wake of Biden’s announcement, which was immediately followed by an endorsement of his vice president. Schumer and Jeffries — the top Democrats in both chambers — however, stopped short of offering that backing, a posture that raised some eyebrows.
Both Jeffries and Schumer spoke to Harris on Sunday.
The apprehension is not completely unheard of from Jeffries, who typically holds off on making significant decisions before meeting with the House Democratic Caucus and hearing the thoughts and concerns of all members. The group is scheduled to huddle Tuesday morning for its weekly meeting.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told The Hill in a brief interview Sunday he thinks some top Democrats may be holding off on an endorsement for Harris to minimize the image that the party is holding a coronation for the vice president. Instead, he said, allowing for some sort of process that inevitably ends with Harris as the nominee would make her stronger at the top of the ticket.
“There are some who believe that Kamala will be stronger and more legitimate if there is a bit of a process,” Huffman said. “But I don’t hear anyone suggesting that she’s not gonna be the nominee at the end of that process. I just see this inexorable consolidation happening in real time.”
Harris, meanwhile, is already moving to lock up support on Capitol Hill. The vice president, who served four years in the Senate before moving to the White House, spoke with the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition, three key groups in the House that cover a diverse array of the Democratic Caucus.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said he heard from a member of Harris’s team, noting that her operation is officially underway.
“Her team is fully activated and phones are ringing, emails are blowing up, this thing is rolling,” Huffman told The Hill in a brief interview Sunday. “This has taken off like a rocket ship.”
On the Republican side of the aisle, lawmakers are calling on Biden to resign from the presidency immediately, arguing that he should not be allowed to finish his term — roughly six months — if he is unable to run for re-election.
That sentiment is coming from the very top of the House GOP conference.
"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."
GOP lawmakers could translate their calls into legislation. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), after Biden's disastrous debate performance last month, introduced a resolution that urges Harris to convene the Cabinet and declare Biden unable to carry out the duties of the Oval Office. Harris, however, would be unlikely to do so.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) announced on Sunday that she would introduce a similar resolution on Monday. And Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the chair of the House GOP conference, said she plans to put forward a resolution condemning Harris's "role as Joe Biden’s 'Border czar' leading to the most catastrophic open border crisis in history," a sign of the attacks Republicans may lodge at the likely new Democratic nominee.
Netanyahu to address Congress
Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver an address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, a controversial appearance that will put Democratic disagreements over Israel front and center.
The speech, scheduled for 2 p.m. in the House chamber, will be the latest flashpoint in the long-running tensions between the Democratic Party’s staunchest allies of Israel and pro-Palestinian progressives who are up in arms over the mounting humanitarian deaths in the Gaza strip.
A number of liberals have already said they plan to boycott the speech, raising concerns with Netanyahu’s conservative government and his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
“I’ve spoken to several members in the House and the Senate, actually, who had gone to the last speech, the last time he was here, even though they had a lot of misgivings about it, and have been clear that they’re not planning to go this time,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters last month.
She said she would not attend the speech.
The address comes at an inopportune time for Democrats — including Biden — who are already dealing with the fallout of the president’s seismic decision not to run for re-election in November.
Biden is expected to meet with Netanyahu this week, though the timing of that gathering remains unclear because the president is still recovering from COVID-19, a source familiar with Biden’s schedule told The Associated Press.
Biden himself has had a difficult relationship with Netanyahu since war broke out in the Middle East, as the Israeli prime minister draws criticism for his handling of the conflict. Biden told Time magazine in an interview conducted in late May “there is every reason for people to draw that conclusion” that Netanyahu was prolonging the war in the region for his own political benefit.
Congress to zero in on Trump assassination attempt
U.S. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle, who is facing widespread calls to resign from Republicans in wake of the assassination attempt, is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee in a 10 a.m. hearing on Monday.
Her appearance comes after Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed her to compel her attendance despite saying she had previously agreed to appear, worrying she might back out of the hearing. In a rare bipartisan statement, Oversight Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) joined a statement with Comer encouraging her to attend.
While Cheatle testifies before the Oversight panel, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) will lead a bipartisan group of the panel’s members to tour the site of the Butler, Pa. Trump rally on Monday. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who was in the front row at Trump’s rally during the shooting, will also attend.
Green scheduled his own hearing with the Homeland Security panel on Tuesday and invited Cheatle to testify along with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Chris Wray — though Wray and Mayorkas have declined the invitation, according to a committee aide.
The House is also scheduled to vote this week on creating a “task force,” as promised by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week, to investigate the assassination attempt. The resolution creating the task force has it functioning essentially as a select committee, with 11 members in total subject to the approval of the Speaker, including 5 appointed in “consultation” with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
The resolution creating the task force is scheduled to be considered this week under suspension of the rules, requiring two-thirds approval from the House.
The increased scrutiny on the Secret Service comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on the agency’s director to resign from her post. Johnson, along with other Republicans, have called on Cheatle to step aside, in addition to Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle (Pa.).
Menendez in Senate spotlight
The spotlight will be on Menendez when the Senate returns to session on Tuesday, which will mark the first time the upper chamber is back in D.C. following the New Jersey Democrat’s criminal conviction.
A jury last week found Menendez guilty on all 16 counts he faced, including charges of accepting luxurious bribes in exchange for his political power and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt.
A number of Senate Democrats, including Schumer, have called on Menendez to resign in the wake of his conviction or face expulsion. The New Jersey Democrat, however, is unlikely to leave on his own terms. After NBC News reported that Menendez was telling allies he will tap out of Congress, the senator told CBS New York “I can tell you that I have not resigned nor have I spoken to any so-called 'allies.”
“Seems to me that there is an effort to try to force me into a statement. Anyone who knows me knows that's the worst way to achieve a goal with me,” he added.
The support for expulsion, however, is sure to put pressure on Schumer to move on a punishment for the senator. Senate sources say Schumer could stage a vote on the expulsion resolution, but they note that recent chamber precedent says the matter would first be referred to the Senate’s Select Committee on Ethics, which is led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).
If Menendez resigns or is expelled, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) would be tasked with appointing the senator’s temporary replacement.