Axios

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) is considering re-registering as a Democrat and entering the 2024 presidential race, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Manchin left the party in May but could see an opening to run as a moderate option after President Biden withdrew from the race on Sunday.

A group of state Democratic Party chairs has voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president, two sources familiar with the matter tell Axios.

Why it matters: The endorsement will be influential in helping Harris secure the delegates she needs to replace President Biden at the top of the ticket.

Vice President Kamala Harris said her "intention is to earn and win" the Democratic presidential nomination hours after President Biden announced he was exiting the race.

The big picture: Harris thanked Biden for his leadership and said she'd "do everything ... to unite the Democratic Party" and the nation.

House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) is the latest lawmaker to call for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle's resignation.

• Why it matters: Pressure is mounting on Cheatle to resign, with Green joining Congress' top two Republicans, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

President Biden's one term has been more ambitious and progressive than his biggest supporters or his biggest critics anticipated.

Why it matters: After running in 2020 as a moderate focused almost exclusively on beating then-President Trump, Biden promised to channel FDR and LBJ once he was in the White House. He did a lot to live up to that promise despite holding just a one-seat majority in the Senate.

Vice President Kamala Harris is moving quickly to solidify support on Capitol Hill and lock in a broad coalition of backers just hours after President Biden endorsed her to replace him as the Democratic nominee.

Why it matters: The rapid formation of a wide-ranging, pro-Harris bloc on Capitol Hill could help push Democratic leaders off the sidelines and extinguish pockets of dissent.

Foreign leaders praised President Biden's qualities as a leader and achievements strengthening global alliances, following his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

Why it matters: Biden's withdrawal shakes up the 2024 presidential race and emphasizes the stakes of the election, with many U.S. allies already anticipating what a return of former President Trump to the White House could mean for the international order.

Biden's exit announcement came together in a late-night writing session, according to reporting from Axios' Hans Nichols and the N.Y. Times.

Yesterday: Biden worked on his letter exiting the race with top aides Steve Ricchetti, Annie Tomasini and Mike Donilon at his Rehoboth Beach, Del., home.

• Biden's family and closest aides learned that he was leaving.

Today: Biden, in separate calls, told VP Harris, his White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and his campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon shortly ahead of the public announcement.

• Biden told his other top staffers one minute before his tweet.
• Zients convened the Cabinet for a virtual session shortly after the announcement to share the president's decision.

Go deeper.

President Biden announced Sunday that he is stepping aside as the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential contest and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party's nominee.

Why it matters: The eleventh-hour change introduces a seismic and historic shift in the 2024 presidential race less than a month before the Democratic National Convention, set to start Aug. 19.

Vice President Kamala Harris is calling Democratic leaders and elected officials to try to lock down the party's presidential nomination, according to people familiar with the situation.

Why it matters: Just hours after President Biden dropped his bid for re-election, Harris is moving quickly to make her nomination a foregone conclusion.

Top Congressional Republicans are calling on President Biden to resign, arguing if he is unfit to run for president, he is unfit to serve the rest of his term.

Why it matters: Senior GOP lawmakers are making the case that keeping Biden in place poses a national security threat, with members poised to do whatever they can to amplify the chaos in the Democratic party as November approaches.

Democratic delegates to next month's presidential nomination convention now have the option of backing Vice President Kamala Harris or other candidates following President Biden's departure from the race.

Why it matters: Delegates have mostly played a symbolic role in recent history, but their place in the nomination process gained attention even before Biden's dropped presidential bid.

Capitol Hill's top Democrats didn't immediately throw their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday after President Biden withdrew from the 2024 race.

Why it matters: The party will have to move quickly to get behind a new candidate, and senior Democrats will be highly influential in that process.

Former President Trump slammed President Biden as "not fit" to run or serve in a Truth Social post Sunday after the commander-in-chief announced he was bowing out of the presidential race.

Why it matters: The GOP nominee, fresh from a victory lap at the Republican National Convention, faces a very different race than the rematch the country expected.

Former President Obama lauded President Biden following his decision Sunday to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, saying it was a testament to Biden's "love of country."

Why it matters: Unlike several lawmakers and even the Clintons, Obama stopped short of endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. That doesn't mean he won't ultimately.

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement on Sunday that the party will "undertake a transparent and orderly process" to select a candidate "who can defeat" former President Trump in November.

Why it matters: Harrison did not mention Vice President Kamala Harris, who President Biden endorsed to replace him as the Democratic presidential nominee after he said Sunday that he was stepping aside.

A pro-Trump Super PAC accused Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday of being "in on" a cover-up of President Biden's "mental decline," characterizing her as the driving force behind the administration's policies.

Why it matters: Following Biden's announcement that he is dropping out of the 2024 race, the ire of some of Trump's closest allies immediately shifted to the vice president, who the commander-in-chief endorsed in a separate tweet.

President Biden's announcement Sunday that he's dropping his 2024 re-election bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him was met with shock and uncertainty by many rank-and-file Democrats in Congress.

Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers told Axios they were genuinely in the dark about what the president would do — and many are equally unclear about what should and will happen next.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday after President Biden's stunning withdrawal from the race.

Why it matters: One of the most powerful families in Democratic politics swiftly joined Biden in endorsing Harris, a key indicator the party will rally around the vice president as the best option to defeat Donald Trump.

President Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after dropping out of the 2024 race on Sunday, solidifying her status as the likely Democratic nominee.

The big picture: There's a movement underway among some Democratic officials and operatives to bypass Vice President Harris as Biden's successor — or at least make the nomination a contest rather than a coronation.

President Biden announced he was stepping out of the presidential race in a letter addressed to "My Fellow Americans."

Why it matters: Biden's withdrawal so late in the race is unprecedented for a presumptive nominee. He has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination.

President Biden's family supported the president Sunday following his momentous decision to drop out from the 2024 presidential race.

Why it matters: Biden's withdrawal shakes up the race to the White House just weeks before the Democratic National Convention, which starts Aug. 19.

With President Biden stepping down as the Democratic nominee before Election Day and immediately backing Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination, Democrats will now have to select a candidate and build a campaign around them.

Why it matters: The prolonged modern timeline to run a political campaign in the U.S. is actually fairly unique to the country's elections.

President Biden's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination could defuse the age question dogging the Democrats: Harris will be 60 on Inauguration Day — 22 years younger than Biden.

Why it matters: Concerns over Biden's age and mental fitness were central to calls for his replacement as the Democratic nominee. Trump, at 78, becomes the oldest nominee in U.S. history if Harris or someone else younger than Trump succeeds Biden atop the Democratic ticket.

President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday, weeks after disastrous debate against former President Trump, and after top allies and friends joined the chorus of Democrats urging him to step aside.

Why it matters: Biden's unprecedented decision this late in the process shakes up the race for both parties, forcing former President Trump and the GOP to contend with a new Democratic ticket.

President Biden handed Vice President Kamala Harris the baton as he stepped out of the presidential race on Sunday, putting her in pole position for the Democratic nomination.

Why it matters: Harris' emergence as the leading contender weeks before the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19 has opened the door to heightened scrutiny from voters, delegates and members of the party who now must decide whether the vice president is the strongest opponent to take on former President Trump.

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W. Va.) called on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race Sunday.

Why it matters: Manchin's plea for Biden to "pass the torch to a new generation" on CNN's "State of the Union" follows similar calls from two of the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats, Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Jon Tester (Montana), as well as from a growing number of influential House Democrats.

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) called on Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to "resign immediately" Saturday, citing "unacceptable operational failures" in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Why it matters: Boyle is the first Democrat in Congress to call for Cheatle's resignation, but he joins a chorus of Republicans who have called on her to step away from leading the agency.

Some 55% of U.S. adults want to see immigration levels reduced, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Why it matters: It's the first time in nearly two decades that a majority of Americans have wanted there to be less immigration, per the poll.

President Biden's lingering regret and anger from when Democrats pushed him not to run in 2016 is fueling his determination to stay in the race in 2024, current and former Biden aides told Axios.

Why it matters: Several people close to Biden said they believe his bitterness toward former President Obama, and the congressional Democrats now trashing him, is making the president more determined to continue his campaign even as some of his own aides think an exit is inevitable.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Donald Trump's rally here Saturday was Classic Trump: a two-hour, rambling mix of word salads, boasting and false claims. But it also was clear that Trump has tweaked his message — and not just by recounting the attempt on his life a week ago.

Why it matters: For the second time in 48 hours, Trump delivered a lengthy speech without mentioning the Jan. 6 riot or his supporters who stormed the Capitol — those he'd been calling "patriots" and legal "hostages" for much of the past 3½ years.