🥊 Democrats fighting over their strategy and leadership for 2028 are locked in on savaging — or saving — the one man with a title and power: DNC chair Ken Martin.

Why it matters: Martin is facing a growing crisis of confidence over the Democratic National Committee's bungled autopsy of the 2024 election and its financial struggles. This is the biggest, earliest test of the party's top brass heading into '28.

• 📆 So far, Martin has staved off a revolt among DNC members at a time when they're setting the calendar for the 2028 presidential primary — a key factor in determining the party's next nominee.
• In fact, as some members of Congress and Democratic strategists are calling for Martin to resign, key DNC members are rallying to his defense.

🔬 Zoom in: The DNC's powerful rules and bylaws committee met at a D.C. hotel this week to hear the pitches of a dozen states that want to go early in the upcoming primary.

• 🤫 The delicacy of Martin's position was apparent: He skipped the panel's public meeting, though he did quietly visit the hotel for some private conversations.

🗂️ Since Martin released — and disavowed — an incomplete autopsy of the 2024 election this month, some Democratic operatives have argued that he lacks the credibility to manage key parts of the upcoming Democratic presidential contest.

• The DNC sets the primary calendar and debate process, and builds up the party's infrastructure for the eventual nominee to inherit.
• "If people can't trust the DNC, what is going to happen is they're going to think the process is rigged against their candidate," said influential "Pod Save America" co-host Dan Pfeiffer on a podcast.
• "The way that Ken Martin has handled this, he has made it very hard for people to trust the DNC."

🤝 DNC members gathering this week struck a very different tone: They told Axios they're sticking with Martin.

• "There is huge support, huge support, at this committee and the party as a whole for Ken Martin," said Stuart Appelbaum, a member of the rules and bylaws committee.
• Ray Buckley, leader of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, slammed Martin's critics on social media: "What some of the folks that are online might not understand is that the chair works for the DNC members, and the DNC membership to this day still overwhelmingly supports Ken."

Even a DNC member who had publicly pushed Martin to release the autopsy earlier, Vinod Thomas, said he still backs him.

• "Ken is a reform-minded, progressive leader. If he is forced out, he is likely to be replaced by someone who is far more aligned with insiders, consultants and donor networks," he told us in an email.

Between the lines: It's not surprising that DNC members, including those involved in state parties, are coming to Martin's defense.

• Martin previously led the Association of State Democratic Committees, and since becoming DNC chair, he's boosted funding for state parties.

Reality check: Some Democrats think Martin isn't out of the woods yet. If the party's congressional leaders signal they want him out — or the financial picture for the DNC significantly worsens — they believe he could be pressured to leave.

• Removing Martin would require at least "a majority vote" of the DNC's 400-some members, according to the party's bylaws.

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— Holly Otterbein, Alex Thompson

💥 Many former Biden aides think Jill Biden's new book is rewriting history, unhelpful to the Democratic Party and tone-deaf, they told Axios in interviews this week.

• The backlash comes as excerpts from the book — "View from the West Wing: A Memoir" — appeared online and the former first lady sat for her first interview since her husband left office in January 2025.

😬 Why it matters: Most Democratic Party leaders don't want to talk about Joe Biden's presidency, but the Bidens are making that difficult. Both are writing books and the former president plans to make campaign stops ahead of the November midterms.

State of play: Jill Biden's book opens up a wound for many Democrats who believe the Bidens damaged their credibility with voters by insisting Joe Biden was fit enough to run for reelection in 2024 when he wasn't, and by pushing the party to publicly defend his fitness.

• Many Democrats feel the Bidens have yet to explain themselves, and that Jill Biden's new book is part of a larger pattern of looking for excuses and other people to blame.

😡 What they're saying: Several Biden aides — including some of the most loyal ones — are fuming about the former first lady's reemergence.

• One former Biden official said: "I just wish they would give some more time and space and let people move on. It all feels so disingenuous."
• 🫵 Another said: "The throughline between her book and [Kamala] Harris' is that they blame everyone but themselves for the loss."
• A former senior Biden official added: "President Biden actually has a legacy that is impactful and should be celebrated at some point — getting us through the pandemic and passing life-changing bills. Why does he keep stepping on it himself?"

A former Biden campaign aide said: "It's just so selfish. The Bidens preached selflessness and service above all — and every decision they've made since he decided to run for reelection has been about themselves. It's also ironic — the only people undermining President Biden's legacy are the people closest to him."

• Even former spokesperson Andrew Bates — one of Biden's most aggressive defenders — told the New York Post he's still angry Democrats lost the 2024 election and he doesn't see "why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now."

Driving the news: Former Biden aides are particularly incensed and dubious of the former first lady's version of events when it came to Joe Biden's aging and the debate that led him to exit the campaign.

• 📺 Jill Biden says now she was "frightened" watching her husband's disastrous debate against Donald Trump, and writes that she thought to herself: "Is this a stroke? I felt like we were watching an AI hologram of the man we knew, and the hologram was glitching. Has he been drugged?"
• After the debate, however, she didn't appear so worried and joined President Biden at a campaign rally, and a stop at a Waffle House, then introduced him at a rally the next day after an overnight flight.
• Her latest comments also are at odds with what Joe Biden's top aides said at the time and since: that the debate went badly, but the media and the Democratic Party overreacted.

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— Alex Thompson

A look at what potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders are up to:

• New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallied in Montana for U.S. House candidate Sam Forstag ahead of Tuesday's primary. About 800 people lined up in the 85-degree heat and rain for the rally.
• AOC also teamed up with Democratic Reps. Jason Crow and Mike Levin to form an End Corruption Caucus.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom promised a 100% tax on any money a California resident receives from President Trump's proposed $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent some conflicting signals about her 2028 plans on Thursday. She told local reporter Roop Raj: "There will be a robust group of people running for president. I will not be one of them in 2028, I can tell you that." Later that day, she tried to walk back that comment, saying, "I'm going to stay focused and leave it at that for now."
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told Politico's Jonathan Martin that he's been talking policy with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — the latest potential 2028 candidate to do so. He also announced new standards for data centers.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will head to Iowa on June 7 to campaign with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand. Beshear also attended South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn's annual fish fry on Friday, along with California Rep. Ro Khanna.
• Khanna will campaign with Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) on Friday.
• Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced the launch of an "AI Innovation Lab" that he said will "make our government faster, smarter and more efficient."
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he looks forward to signing the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act requiring third-party safety audits to hold "Big Tech accountable."
• Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy went on tour this week to promote his new book, "Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America."
• Murphy also delivered the commencement address at Wesleyan University, where he criticized what he called the "cult of efficiency."
• Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his latest education proposal at Dartmouth University, the New York Times reported.
• Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the Mackinac Policy Conference in Michigan that his decision on a 2028 presidential run will depend on: "What do I bring to the table, and is it different from the others?"

📖 Murphy, a potential 2028 contender for president, waxes poetic in his new book about a surprising beloved song: the 2023 viral hit "Rich Men North of Richmond" by Oliver Anthony.

🎶 The tune about a working man's everyday struggles caught fire with the MAGA right — making it a surprising pick for a New England liberal like Murphy.

• 🤮 Murphy said he was "captivated by the catchy and heartfelt song." That opinion didn't win him any friends on the left. When he praised it online after it first came out, one commenter wrote in response: "barf."

But Murphy writes in his treatise that the song spoke to a populist anger that cuts across the political spectrum.

• 😕 "The lyrics include a few right-wing tropes and nods to fringe conspiracies, but mostly the song is a lament about the soullessness of the modern economy — the collapse of the social contract and the common good," Murphy says.