U.S. Congress

‘It’s a catastrophe,’ said the senator from Vermont, becoming the first Democrat from that chamber to publicly say the president should step aside.

A defiant and angry president says he is not going anywhere. Some Democrats are trying to appeal to another side of the politician, who has been a realist about his political fortunes before.

The dam has mostly held on Capitol Hill for President Biden, but cracks continued to open as more donors and elected officials publicly called on President Biden to drop out.

Only four seats separate Democrats from the House majority, making the chamber a potential bulwark against complete Republican control. But gaining even a handful of seats will be difficult.

President Biden is pushing back against those who say he is not up to the job.

The senators said the Supreme Court justice’s failure to disclose lavish gifts and luxury travel showed a “willful pattern of disregard for ethics laws.”

The president has yet to do what many Democrats said he must to show he is up to remaining in the race. But so far, they have thrown up their hands, doing nothing to nudge him aside.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate met privately to hash out their concerns about President Biden’s viability, but leaders emerged from two separate meetings pledging allegiance to their candidate.

Senator Robert Menendez’s corruption trial has featured testimony that ventured into offbeat territory.

An Oklahoma Republican who led the Environment Committee, he took hard-right stands on many issues but was especially vocal in challenging evidence of global warming.

Clint Keaveny, an outspoken volunteer, was removed from a Democratic congressional campaign for holding up a protest sign at a Biden rally.

The president’s defiant letter to lawmakers declaring that he would not end his candidacy no matter what did not stop the stream of Democrats publicly expressing skepticism about his viability.

Senators have had plenty of practice watching colleagues hold stubbornly onto their positions of power as they grow old. None wants to lead a public call for President Biden to withdraw.

President Biden defied his critics in a letter to Democratic members of Congress and in fiery remarks on MSNBC.

During a private meeting of top House Democrats, several senior lawmakers said it was time for President Biden to withdraw, while a Senate Democrat said publicly he must do more to reassure voters.

The former speaker has spent much of his time, energy and money since leaving Congress in a bid to defeat the Republicans who cost him his gavel — and his political career.

Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Senator Robert Menendez, met with prosecutors last fall to plead his case. Days later, the senator was indicted on bribery charges.

Representative Emilia Sykes is one of only a few Black Democrats in Congress who don’t resemble most of their constituents, and whose political survival this year will help determine which party controls the House.

It’s a change from 2016, when House Republicans were the preferred candidates. At least two senators — J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio — are on the short list for the vice president slot.

The House minority leader scheduled a virtual meeting for Sunday.

While speaking at a campaign event in Wisconsin, President Biden reaffirmed his pledge to stay in the 2024 presidential race, despite a weak debate performance last week and calls from some House Democrats to drop out.

While some House Democrats have been outspoken about the president’s debate performance, most senators have so far been quieter about their concerns.

A mysterious former Republican’s victory over Mondaire Jones in a third-party primary could help shape one of the nation’s most important congressional swing races this fall.

Impeachments, bankruptcies, fraud judgments, felonies. Nothing sticks. Nothing matters.

The private message from congressional leaders was that members should feel free to take whatever position about Mr. Biden’s candidacy was best for their districts.

Representatives Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who are in tough re-election battles, added to widespread pessimism among Democrats about the election in November.

Haiti’s newly selected prime minister, Garry Conille, met with Democrats on Capitol Hill as well as Biden administration officials, seeking more help to combat the unrest in his country.

The veteran congressman, once a prominent voice for his party’s left flank on Capitol Hill, said aloud what some Democrats have privately whispered in the days since the president’s debate performance.

After days of quiet hand-wringing, a few Democrats went public with their concerns about the president, worried not only about his chances but also the party’s ability to hold the Senate and win the House.

Senator Peter Welch of Vermont said that the campaign should acknowledge concerns about President Biden’s poor debate performance, not dismiss them.