Yesterday, President Biden released a letter announcing his decision to end his reelection bid. In his letter, the President wrote that he would address the nation later this week with more detail about his decision. He did not give an exact date or time. He is currently recovering from Covid at his home in Rehoboth Beach, DE.

President Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid means Democrats must now quickly find a new candidate. The Democratic National Convention’s rules committee has called a Wednesday meeting to discuss the process for picking a new nominee.

Who picks the Democratic nominee? A few thousand delegates representing voters officially decide on the party’s nominee. Typically, they choose the winner of the primary in their state. Now that Biden has ended his reelection campaign, his delegates are free agents and can choose a candidate on their own without voter input.

There are two types of delegates: 1) Pledged Delegates and 2) Automatic (or Super) Delegates. Pledged delegates commit to supporting the candidate their state voters chose. However, there is a “good conscience” clause in the Democratic party’s rules that give them some wiggle room. “All delegates to the National Convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” Automatic or Superdelegates include members of Congress, President, Vice President, Governors, Democratic National Committee (DNC) members, and certain former elected officials, such as Presidents and Vice Presidents and members of congressional leadership. They are not pledged to particular candidates, although these delegates might choose to support a particular candidate. Superdelegates are not allowed to vote on the first ballot at the convention.

What is the process for selecting the Democratic nominee? Democrats must make a formal nomination, either through a virtual vote in early August, or in an “open” convention, a scenario the party has not experienced since 1968. The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is slated to take place in Chicago, IL August 19-22. Before President Biden’s announcement, the DNC had decided to confirm their nominee during a virtual roll call some time before August 7 to satisfy ballot deadlines in several states, such as Ohio. Additionally, early voting begins in some places in September, so Democratic leaders probably wanted to settle the nomination before the convention.

Open Convention: If a virtual rollcall doesn’t show a clear majority of delegates backing Harris, they may proceed to an open convention. At an open convention, candidates need 300 delegate signatures to appear on the ballot (no more than 50 signatures can come from any one state). On the first ballot, pledged delegates vote. If a majority is reached, the nominee with the majority is chosen. If a majority is not reached, there is a second ballot which superdelegates are allowed to vote along with pledged delegates. Voting continues, round after round, until a candidate gets the votes of a majority of all delegates and is named the party’s nominee.

Endorsements for Vice President Harris: President Biden officially endorsed Vice President Harris as the next Democratic nominee, and many in the Democratic party quickly endorsed Vice President Harris, including the party chairs for the 57 states and territories, the Clintons, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and NY Governor Kathy Hochul. Today, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) added her name to the list of endorsers. Biden’s endorsement does not obligate his delegates to support Harris, but they may be inclined to do as he wishes.

The campaign formerly known as Biden for President, in a filing Sunday afternoon with the Federal Election Commission, changed its name to the Harris for President campaign. That means Vice President Harris’ bid for the Democratic nomination is official, with her campaign assuming control of Biden’s campaign money ($95M+). It also allows Vice President Harris to begin raising money for her own presidential bid.

Update July 23, 2024

Last night, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) reiterated that they plan to select their presidential nominee through a virtual roll call, to be completed by August 7 (before some state ballot access deadlines). 

DNC chair Jaime Harrison and DNC Rules Committee co-chair Minyon Moore laid out the new virtual format in a memo released last night. According to the memo, the DNC will use an electronic voting system for the delegates to vote. To participate in this virtual voting process, the candidate must meet three criteria: file a formal declaration of candidacy with the committee, meet the party and legal qualifications to be president, and gather a minimum of at least 300 delegates with no more than 50 delegates from one state. If there is more than one candidate, they would have an option to make their case before the delegates. 

The dates for that process will be announced on Wednesday when the DNC Convention Rules Committee meets virtually. Voting by electronic ballot could be completed as soon as August 1. If more than one candidate qualifies, then the voting could be completed as late as August 7. 

A vice-presidential nominee may be selected before or after the August 7 date, depending on the desires of the presidential nominee. Some of the top names mentioned in recent news coverage are Govs. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Wes Moore of Maryland, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania; Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Mark Warner of Virginia; U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Admiral William McRaven.

The House and Senate are in recess this week for the Republican National Convention being held in Milwaukee, WI. Former President Trump may announce his Vice President selection tonight. The Vice Presidential pick is scheduled to speak Wednesday evening. One contender, Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), was spotted leaving his home today with a motorcade. Former President Trump is slated to speak on Thursday, the final night of the convention. The convention will be streamed on YouTube, X, Facebook Live, Rumble, Amazon Prime, Twitch, and Direct TV.

https://gopconvention2024.com/master-calendar/

The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago, IL the week of August 19-22.

https://demconvention.com

Both the House and Senate will be in session the weeks of July 22 and July 29. The House will focus on finishing their fiscal year 2025 (FY25) appropriations bills during those two weeks, while the Senate may take up their FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as well as continue confirming Executive Brand and judicial nominations.

Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations

House

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee completed work on all 12 of their annual spending bills. Four of these bills have narrowly passed on the House floor, however, the Legislative Branch bill was defeated last week by a vote of 205-213. This is typically one of the easier bills to pass, but some Republican members joined all Democrats who voted against the bill because it included a provision providing a pay raise for members of Congress. This could prevent the House from passing all 12 of its bills before the August recess.

The House plans on taking up the Agriculture, Energy & Water, Financial Services, and Interior Environment appropriations bills on the House floor when they return next week. If they manage to pass all four, they would have the four most contentious bills remaining for the final week of July.

Senate

Senate Appropriators started the FY25 appropriations process last week when they approved their subcommittee allocations and reported out three spending bills (Agriculture, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs). The Senate subcommittee allocations do not include $34.5B in emergency spending ($21B for defense programs and $13.5B for nondefense programs) or other upward “adjustments” for nondefense spending that were negotiated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

Topline Funding Levels by Appropriations Subcommittee

*Note that the Senate allocations do not include any of the adjustments and emergency funding agreed to as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act agreement, or the additional emergency funding that Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins have agreed to for fiscal year 2025. These resources will instead be reflected as  each subcommittees reports its bill.