Joe Biden is dismissing Republican calls to step down as president — including from the speaker of the House — now that he’s abandoned his reelection bid, charging headlong this week into high-stakes conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other major priorities.
The White House confirmed Sunday that Biden will remain commander-in-chief even as he abandons his pursuit of another four years, saying he “looks forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the American people.”
The statement comes after Republicans began openly calling for Biden to resign, questioning his cognitive fitness for the job and contending that he could not continue running the country for the next six months if he wasn’t going to seek another four-year term.
Biden’s decision to step aside served as confirmation that he was no longer capable of performing his presidential duties, a host of GOP lawmakers argued on Sunday, echoing a theory advanced in recent days by Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), and echoed Sunday by House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Biden aides and allies have universally dismissed the push as offensive and off-base, insisting that Biden is both able and determined to serve out the final months of his presidency.
“I’ll use a polite term: utterly graceless and shameful baloney,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told POLITICO of the GOP push to oust Biden. “When an American leader like Joe Biden makes a courageous and selfless decision for the sake of the nation, some of these Republicans just race to the bottom.”
Biden in the coming days was slated to meet with Netanyahu, amid ongoing efforts to clinch a cease-fire in Gaza that aides view as a top priority in the run-up to November’s election.
The administration is aiding negotiations on Capitol Hill aimed at keeping the government funded and reauthorizing the nation’s defense budget that will heat up later this fall. And Biden is also deeply involved in managing the ongoing international efforts to defend Ukraine against Russia — a two-year alliance that he’s taken personal pride in holding together.
That agenda, aides and allies said, remains instrumental to Democrats’ efforts to keep hold of the White House — even if Biden won’t be the occupant come January 20.
“Joe Biden has more experience in foreign policy than any national leader, and to have him step aside now, I think, would be a great disservice to this nation and a profound disrespect,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden ally, said on CNN.
Another Democrat in close touch with the White House and granted anonymity to speak freely, surveying the priorities facing the White House in the coming months, put it more bluntly: “There’s no fucking chance that Joe Biden is planning to resign.”
Democrats hope that Biden’s decision will help them escape a weekslong nightmare of a news cycle that’s prevented the party from attacking Trump — and shifting voters’ focus to the sharp policy differences that they view as far friendlier territory.
Biden, they said, will now be able to focus solely on finishing out a final few months that could be consequential for both his domestic and foreign policy legacy — and potentially boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy — as the government races to finalize a series of regulations and manage delicate diplomatic initiatives abroad.
The rest of the party, meantime, now has its first chance in nearly a month to coalesce behind a new candidate and try to reset the state of the race. Democrats’ concerns over their path to victory in November were never rooted in Biden’s ability to build a policy case for reelection, lawmakers stressed in recent weeks, but their belief that other Democratic leaders could articulate and advance that argument on the campaign trail far more vigorously than Biden.
“The country will quickly unify around democracy over Project 2025 and all the craziness happening with former President Trump and Vance,” said one prominent Biden donor, who predicted Democrats would fall in line behind Harris in the coming days. “This will wake up the base in a completely different way.”
Still, in the hours after Biden announced he’d end his campaign, aides shocked by the news grappled with a glut of unanswered questions as to how the decision would affect their daily activities — and if it would prompt any pivots in West Wing strategy.
“Who am I supposed to talk to on Monday?” said one administration official, who questioned whether Biden’s decision would prompt shifts in hierarchy and personnel. “I don’t know.”
Senior White House officials working to calm aides’ frayed nerves have signaled that they’re focused on maintaining as much continuity as possible, with little in the way of staffing changes or drastic alterations in policymaking. Chief of staff Jeff Zients was due to hold a conference call on Monday for all White House staffers, as well as a separate session with political appointees across the federal agencies.
Harris is widely expected to structure her abbreviated campaign around the administration’s existing record, touting the similar range of health care, economic and climate policy achievements that Biden has campaign on — and that Democratic allies conspicuously cited on Sunday as belonging to the “Biden-Harris” presidency.
“We’re having a conversation now about the next several years in the future,” said one high-level Democratic official close to party leadership, adding that there’s no time or compelling reason to drastically shift tactics. “It’s not like we’re a year out from the election.”
Some forthcoming proposals, Democrats ventured, could even take on greater importance as Harris works to nail down support within the party for her candidacy. Biden has been preparing a Supreme Court reform package that would propose instituting term limits and an enforceable code of ethics, an initiative that progressives have long pushed the White House to embrace.
Finalizing that proposal could help reassure those on the left that Harris plans to maintain the progressive streak that’s defined much of the administration agenda up to this point.
“That’s high-profile stuff that will help her electoral prospects become more likely,” said one Biden adviser, granted anonymity to discuss the evolving internal calculus.
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