What's next for Democrats, delegates to replace Biden on the ticket

• The Democratic National Convention's rules committee will hold a meeting to discuss implementing a framework to select a presidential nominee in a meeting to be broadcast live on the DNC's YouTube page from 2pm Wednesday ET, per multiple reports.

Zoom in: While Harris is probably in the best position to become the Democratic nominee in the view of party officials and strategists, it's not guaranteed.

• That's in part because Biden did not resign from the presidency, which would have made Harris the first woman president of the U.S. and vaulted her to the top of the ticket.
• "We're just in uncharted territory here and a lot of this stuff hasn't been tested, certainly not in the modern era of presidential nomination," Josh Putnam, a political consultant specializing in delegate selection rules and presidential campaigns, told Axios.

State of play: Under the Democratic National Committee rules, pledged delegates are bound to initially vote for the candidate they're assigned. Since Biden has left the race, delegates are free to support whomever they choose.

• One possible scenario is the party holds a pre-convention virtual vote around one candidate. If that fails, there could be an open convention.
• "There are informal ways of nudging them in a particular direction," Putnam said.
• Such as an endorsement — as Biden did for Harris.

The intrigue: Some people cited a DNC "good conscience" rule that would give his delegates some leeway in voting for someone else.

• Rule 13(J): "Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them."
• Per Putnam, "If the president were to endorse the vice president, then that may carry some weight with those delegates who have pledged to it, but it wouldn't be a direct transfer."

By the numbers: A prospective new candidate would have to receive the support of at least 300 delegates and no more than 600.

• No more than 50 of those delegates can come from any one state.

Yes, but: Timing will be an important factor.

Between the lines: If Biden had also resigned from office when he dropped out of the campaign, Harris would have become an incumbent president running in the race.

• "That may also go a long way toward more closely transferring, quote, unquote, the delegates to the vice president," Putnam said before Biden dropped out. "I would see that as a forceful way of throwing support behind Harris, saying that I not only endorse this person but I trust them to take the reins of power now."

The backdrop: Despite growing backlash from Democrats worried about officially nominating Biden weeks before the convention, top DNC officials were moving forward to codify him virtually as the party's nominee by Aug. 7, Axios' Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson reported.

• Delegates remained concerned the virtual voting process was just a way to ensure that Biden became the party's nominee and quash the internal rebellion pushing him to step aside.
• There was deep skepticism about the DNC's stated reason for the virtual roll call — an Aug. 7 deadline to get on the ballot in Ohio — after Ohio changed its law.

Go deeper:

• Biden says Kamala Harris is "qualified to be president"
• Kamala Harris gets fundraising boost after Biden drops out of race
• Why the DNC delegates are the most important they've been in decades

Editor's note: This article has been updated with details of the planned Democratic National Convention's rules committee meeting.