WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The Democratic National Committee is pushing back its virtual roll call vote to August to nominate President Joe Biden ahead of its convention.
The move buys Democrats time as they struggle to get on the same page about whether President Biden should be at the top of the ticket.
“That virtual vote won’t happen before the first of August,” DNC Rules Committee Co-chair and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said.
Walz says a vote will still happen before the Aug. 19 convention in Chicago.
The DNC had planned to vote to nominate President Biden before Aug. 7 because of Ohio’s ballot deadline but Ohio has since pushed that back to September.
That’s why some House Democrats drafted a letter to the DNC urging against a vote happening as early as July 21.
The letter reads in part: “There is no legal justification for this extraordinary and unprecedented action.” Democrats will now hold off on sending that letter.
A spokesperson for California Congressman Jared Huffman said, “We’re glad to see that the pressure has worked and the DNC will not rush this virtual process through in July.”
The shifting timeline comes as more Democrats in Congress call on President Biden to drop out of the race.
The latest, and most high-profile so far: California Congressman Adam Schiff.
Schiff said in a statement in part: “I believe it is time for him to pass the torch. And in doing so, secure his legacy…”
But President Biden insists he’s “all in” on the race.
“I think it’s pretty clear Joe Biden isn’t going to go quietly into this good night,” George Washington University Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs Peter Loge said.
Loge says despite the party infighting, a lot of this may not matter to voters.
“Most voters, most of the time, don’t care about Rules committee decisions of the Democratic National Committee. They want to know, can I afford to buy a house?”
