Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is organizing a Monday meeting for Senate Democrats to discuss Joe Biden’s path forward as the party’s presidential nominee, according to a source familiar with the plans.
The meeting is tentatively set to take place after the Senate finishes voting Monday night. The chamber has been on a two-week recess, and it will be senators’ first day back in town since the president’s shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump. It’s unclear how many senators are planning to attend.
Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is hardly seen as a Hill rabble-rouser. But the planned meeting shows Biden has yet to outrun concerns that stemmed from his uneven and halting appearance on the debate stage.
While two House Democrats — Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) — have called on Biden to step aside as the party’s nominee, no Senate Democrats have publicly spoken out in similar fashion.
Many have, however, issued tough assessments of the president’s performance and concerns over how he’d be received by voters after. The president has been doing damage control in the days since, including calls to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), among others.
Warner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post was first to report on Warner’s efforts.
Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.
