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More Than 50 National Organizations From Progressive, Anti-war, and Faith Communities Urge Presumptive Democratic Nominee Joe Biden and President Trump to Adopt a More Principled Foreign Policy
Today, more than 50 national organizations representing millions of Americans sent a letter to President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, to adopt a more principled foreign policy, one that prioritizes diplomacy and multilateralism over militarism.
Today, more than 50 national organizations representing millions of Americans sent a letter to President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, to adopt a more principled foreign policy, one that prioritizes diplomacy and multilateralism over militarism.
The letter, organized by Demand Progress, states "U.S. foreign policy has been overly focused on confrontation with perceived adversaries and the global projection of U.S. military power. We believe that there is room to act aggressively to reform our foreign policy, with the support of the majority of the people of this country across the ideological spectrum."
"The American people are demanding a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy," said Yasmine Taeb, Senior Policy Counsel at Demand Progress. "We are tired of endless wars and a destructive agenda of rampant militarization. A failed post-9/11 agenda has resulted in global instability, countless lives lost, and widespread violations of human rights. By committing to prioritize serious diplomatic engagement and respecting congressional war powers, our leaders can end the forever wars and deliver an agenda more aligned with our values."
"The United States is in dire need of a fundamental reorientation of its foreign policy, away from the goal of dominating the globe militarily, which has mired America in endless wars, and towards a national security strategy centered on diplomatic engagement and military restraint," said Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President at Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. "The COVID pandemic has made it abundantly clear that our excessive focus on foreign military threats - real and imagined - have left us naked and vulnerable for the real challenges of this century - pandemics and climate chaos."
"It's time to turn the page on the disastrous war and regime change policies that have only led to destabilization and suffering abroad. Our policymakers must come to terms with the irreversible trend of public opinion away from interventionism," said Erik Sperling, Executive Director of Just Foreign Policy. "Americans -- and particularly millennials -- aren't falling for fear mongering or calls for nation-building abroad at a time when the challenges facing our nation and world need peaceful and cooperative solutions."
"The coronavirus has changed everything, and our foreign policy priorities must change to reflect the fundamentally new world that we are living in. We can no longer afford to militarize our approach to foreign policy problems - and we have seen first hand how these misguided national security spending priorities have left us ill-equipped to deal with the crisis we now face," explained Dan Kalik, Senior Political Advisor at MoveOn. "A different world is possible. In the past few months, bipartisan coalitions in Congress took steps to reclaiming war-making powers and put a check on unauthorized military endeavors - disrupting the pattern of endless wars. The overwhelming majority of Americans want a new way forward, and this is a moment where Democrats should be leading. We urge Joe Biden to lead - and champion this new approach that our country desperately needs."
"This timely letter reflects the will of most Americans who demand peaceful resolutions to disputes abroad and greater resources devoted to pressing issues at home," said Sina Toossi, Senior Research Analyst at National Iranian American Council Action. "The next administration would be wise to adopt these principles for an enlightened foreign policy that would restore U.S. leadership and foster vitally needed global cooperation to address the challenges of our time."
"The need for America's foreign policy to lead with progressive values has never been more urgent. Across the world, authoritarian leaders are using the coronavirus pandemic as cover to push forward their corrupt agendas which put vulnerable people at risk," said Emily Mayer, Political Director at IfNotNow. "Part of any common sense Middle East foreign policy must include ensuring that our money is funding American values of freedom and human rights -- and our approach to the Israeli government, especially as it inches closer to formal annexation, should be no different. We are proud to be part of this unprecedented coalition demanding meaningful action by our leaders."
The letter, and the full list of signers, can be accessed here, and is also included below.
###
May 11, 2020
Dear Vice President Biden,
We write to you as a broad coalition of organizations representing millions of Americans who care about a principled foreign policy, one that prioritizes diplomacy and multilateralism over militarism.
As the Coronavirus pandemic reveals, our country and many others are woefully unprepared for the crisis that we now face. Without extraordinarily bold leadership, this is likely to be the beginning of a period of profound instability for the entire planet, given the intensifying climate crisis that is also now underway.
We believe that there is room to act aggressively to reform our foreign policy, with the support of the majority of the people of this country across the ideological spectrum. Just as the domestic policy debate has shifted significantly in recent years, the current global context demands that we act boldly to redefine the role of the U.S. in the world.
For decades, U.S. foreign policy has been overly focused on confrontation with perceived adversaries and the global projection of U.S. military power. Doing so has militarized our response to global challenges, distorted our national security spending priorities, toxified our political discourse, and left us woefully ill-prepared to confront the growing transnational threats to human security we face today that do not have military solutions.
Meanwhile, the U.S. currently has more than 240,000 active-duty and reserve troops in at least 172 countries and territories. The cost of the U.S. federal government's post-9/11 wars is more than $6.4 trillion. The American people are looking for a leader who will turn the page on 9/11 policies that have resulted in an endless cycle of war, countless lives lost, increased global instability, large-scale refugee flows of the displaced, and the violation of Americans' civil liberties and human rights.
It is time to end our endless wars and adopt a new approach to international relations, one in which the U.S. abides by international law, encourages others to do the same, and utilizes our military solely for the defense of the people of our country.
We hope that in the months ahead you will engage with the American people and groups like ours in a broad discussion on what a more just and progressive U.S. foreign policy should look like.
In the meantime, we call on you to show your support for the following key measures that we, and many advocates around the country, have been fighting for:
Repealing the2001 AUMF and respecting congressional war powers
Absent a direct and imminent threat to the United States, the President needs to consult Congress and receive authorization for use of military force, as required by the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Act of 1973. The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) has been expanded to apply to situations and groups never envisioned by Congress. This has resulted in the United States waging endless war in 80 countries, including lethal strikes in 7 countries and direct combat in 14 countries. We ask that you consult with, and receive required authorization from, Congress prior to engaging the U.S. military abroad and commit to supporting a repeal of the 2001 AUMF and ending all uses of U.S. military force that have not been authorized by Congress in previous Administrations, including putting an end to unconstitutional participation in the Saudi-led war on Yemen. We also urge you to commit to ending any military action upon a majority vote in Congress under the War Powers Act of 1973, as well as commit to signing war powers reform legislation that would appropriately strengthen Congress' role in authorizing and overseeing the use of force.
Reducing the Pentagon budget
We call on you to commit to ending wasteful military spending and reducing Pentagon spending by at least $200 billion annually. The U.S. military budget is well over $700 billion a year currently -- with private contractors reaping much of the benefit -- and even higher when accounting for nuclear weapons spending at the Department of Energy. The unnecessary nuclear modernization plan is expected to cost $1.7 trillion over the next 30 years. Meanwhile funding has shrunk for the U.S. Department of State and critical social safety nets at home. We call on you to reduce the outsized influence of private contractors at the Pentagon, end the production of new nuclear weapons, cancel 'space force', and to prioritize the federal budget towards meeting the basic needs of Americans at home.
Engaging with Iran
The majority of Americans support finding diplomatic solutions to disputes with Iran. We call on you to end the ongoing failed "maximum pressure" campaign, and return to the "Iran Deal" (JCPOA) in exchange for Iran returning to full compliance with the accord, and seek to build on the deal with further negotiations. After returning to the deal, we encourage you to pursue follow-on negotiations with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other regional actors aimed at resolving conflicts across the region.
Engaging with North Korea
The strategic patience approach to North Korea's nuclear weapons program has failed. While recent diplomacy with North Korea has failed to meet its stated goal of denuclearization, the diplomatic progress should be built upon and pushed further to prioritize both peace and the denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. We urge you to reject pursuing a maximalist approach to the security challenge posed by North Korea and instead focus on confidence-building measures that can move towards normalizing relations, concluding a peace treaty to end the conflict, and eventually freezing and rolling back North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Supporting a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The U.S. should work to build a future in which all Palestinians and Israelis live under full equality by upholding a foreign policy that centers human rights and dignity for all people. We call on you to use a combination of pressure and incentives, including leveraging the annual $3.8 billion in U.S. military funding to Israel, to get all parties to come to an agreement that upholds U.N. Security Council Resolutions and international law, including non-exhaustively: ending Israel's military occupation; disbanding Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; ending the Israeli military blockade of Gaza; and ending all attacks on civilians, be they Israeli or Palestinian.
Opposing regime-change interventions and broad-based sanctions
The military and political campaigns aimed at regime change have borne disaster in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and elsewhere in the past two decades. Meanwhile, broad-based sanctions against countries like Iran and Venezuela have served to impoverish the population at large while not having positive political outcomes - and at times empowering ruling elites. The U.S. should stop seeking to transform other countries through destructive policies and instead work through the United Nations Security Council and other multilateral fora to build global consensus and international legal backing for peaceful, diplomatic solutions to internal and international conflicts.
Rejecting discriminatory immigration policies and supporting refugees
We call on you to repeal the Muslim, African, refugee, and asylum bans, restore access to asylum, and support a robust refugee resettlement program. This includes a commitment to admit at least 125,000 refugees in your first year in office, increasing refugee admissions every year, and investing in infrastructure needed to rebuild our refugee resettlement program and restore U.S. leadership on refugee protection given that we are now facing the worst global displacement crisis in history. As we urge other countries to admit and protect refugees, the U.S. must also ensure all asylum seekers have a meaningful opportunity to be heard before a judge and utilize community-based alternatives to immigration detention.
Closing Guantanamo
The Guantanamo Bay Detention Center has been a stain on our nation's conscience and the most effective recruitment tool used by violent extremists. We call on you to commit to using any and all options within existing authority to seek lawful disposition for the remaining individuals at the detention center and close Guantanamo once and for all. The long-defunct CIA detention and interrogation program, and at minimum the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, needs to be declassified, promulgated internally to reaffirm torture's illegality, and made publicly available.
Ending support for governments that violate human rights
We urge you to prioritize human rights in our foreign policy, with a particular focus on countries with which the U.S. has both leverage and a moral responsibility due to our provision of military or economic aid. Allies of the U.S. should adhere to international law and fundamental human rights norms. The U.S. should stop providing security aid and arms to authoritarian or repressive governments that systematically violate human rights. The U.S. should similarly reassess and downgrade relationships with other governments engaging in widespread systematic repression.
Prioritizing diplomacy and avoid militarizing our relations with other powers such as Russia and China
As Russia and China become increasingly assertive on the world stage, it is critical that you promote diplomatic engagement and avoid further militarization of our relationship with these major powers. Overhyping the threat these countries pose to the United States intensifies fear, racism, and hate domestically. Militarization of our disputes with these nations exacerbate tensions that put the world at risk, while leading to arms races that siphon funds needed for each nation's domestic priorities. As President Reagan said, military conflicts that lead to nuclear war "cannot be won and must never be fought." We urge you to rejoin--and go beyond--nuclear arms reduction agreements that were abandoned. We also urge you to address threats of cyberwarfare and espionage by following the model of the 2015 agreement with China that resulted in an estimated 90 percent drop in Chinese-backed cyber theft of American trade secrets. Instead of reinforcing military confrontation with these rising global powers, we urge you to prioritize investment in the industries of the future to ensure that we remain a global leader in innovation in an increasingly competitive global economy.
Sincerely,
Action Corps
American Friends Service Committee
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Beyond the Bomb
Cameroon American Council
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for International Policy
CODEPINK
Common Defense
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Demand Progress
Equality Labs
The Feminist Foreign Policy Project
Franciscan Action Network
Freedom Forward
The Gravel Institute
Greenpeace US
Historians for Peace and Democracy
IfNotNow
Indivisible
Institute for Policy Studies, National Priorities Project
Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Islamophobia Studies Center
Jetpac
Jewish Voice for Peace Action
Just Foreign Policy
MoveOn
MPower Change
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Iranian American Council Action
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Other98
Our Revolution
Pax Christi USA
Peace Action
People's Policy Project
Progress America
Progressive Democrats of America
Project Blueprint
The Quincy Institute
Rethinking Foreign Policy
RootsAction.org
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
Win Without War
Women's Action for New Directions (WAND)
Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
Yemeni Alliance Committee
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With Attention on Presidential Contest, GOP Goes on Austerity Rampage
One leading Democrat warned Republicans' spending proposals would "demolish public education" and "let corporate price gouging run rampant."
With much of the public's attention on the looming presidential election and high-stakes jockeying over who will take on Donald Trump in November, congressional Republicans in recent weeks have provided a stark look at their plans for federal spending should their party win back control of the presidency and the Senate.
The appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins in October, is currently underway, with congressional committees engaging in government funding debates that are likely to continue beyond the November elections.
In keeping with their longstanding support for austerity for ordinary Americans, Republicans in the House and Senate have proposed steep cuts to a wide range of federal programs and agencies dealing with education, environmental protection, Social Security, election administration, national parks, nutrition assistance, antitrust enforcement, global health, and more—all while they pursue additional deficit-exploding tax giveaways for the rich.
"Some of the most concerning policy riders in the House Fiscal Year 2025 budget bills include mandates for new oil and gas leasing, prohibitions on the establishment of important protected areas for wildlife and natural ecosystems, and limitations that hinder federal agency ability to regulate polluters, putting water quality, air quality, and the climate at risk," the Surfrider Foundation noted in a statement earlier this week.
"Two of the key federal agencies that administer these programs are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), yet the House budget bills call for a 20% funding cut to the EPA, and a 12% funding cut to NOAA," the group added.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, has been attempting to sound the alarm over the GOP's proposals, which she has warned would "demolish public education," endanger the health of women and children, gut mental health programs, "let corporate price gouging run rampant," and "expose children to dangerous products."
"I respectfully request that those on the other side of the aisle go back to the drawing board and come back with a new slate of workable subcommittee allocations across all 12 bills so that we can proceed with the important business of our 2025 appropriations work," DeLauro said during a markup hearing last month.
But Republican lawmakers have made clear that they are bent on pursuing steep cuts across the federal government, proposing spending levels well below the caps implemented by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, legislation that suspended the debt limit through January 1, 2025.
"House Republicans now intend to fund 2025 non-defense appropriations bills 6% below the 2024 level rather than provide the 1% increase" negotiated in 2023, noted David Reich, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Republicans in the Senate have also pushed for damaging cuts to non-military spending as the upper chamber prepares to hold markup hearings for its appropriations bills next week.
The Food Research & Action Center warned in a recent statement that legislation put forth by the top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee would slash Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by $30 billion over the next decade, jeopardizing critical food aid for tens of millions of people as hunger rises.
According to a May report by Feeding America, "the extra amount of money that people facing hunger said they need to have enough food" has "reached its highest point in the last 20 years."
Congressional Republicans' spending proposals for next fiscal year are in line with the draconian cuts pushed by Project 2025, a sweeping far-right agenda from which Trump—the presumptive GOP presidential nominee—is attempting to distance himself as horror grows over the initiative's vision for the country.
Project 2025's 922-page policy document calls for more punitive work requirements for SNAP recipients, massive cuts to Medicaid, the abolition of the Department of Education, the elimination of major clean energy programs, and the gutting of key Wall Street regulations.
"Despite Trump's claims to have 'nothing to do with' Project 2025, his administration and campaign personnel contributed to the project," The Intercept's Shawn Musgrave wrote Friday. "Former Trump administration officials wrote and edited massive chunks of the manifesto. One of its two primary editors, Paul Dans, who directs the Heritage Foundation's 2025 Presidential Transition Project, served as the White House liaison for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration, among other positions."
"Rick Dearborn, who was briefly Trump's deputy chief of staff, wrote the White House chapter," Musgrave added. "Russ Vought, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote the chapter on OMB and similar executive offices."
As New Campaign Implores Him to 'Pass the Torch,' Biden Rejects Calls to Drop Out
"I don't think anybody's more qualified to be president or win this race than me," the incumbent declared in a televised interview.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday delivered a defiant response to those within the Democratic Party urging him to drop out of the 2024 race, characterizing his abysmal debate performance against Donald Trump as a "bad episode" rather than validation of longstanding concerns about his age and cognitive health.
At a rally in Wisconsin and in a later sit-down interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, Biden acknowledged his poor debate showing but said emphatically that he's staying in the race, a message that came as Democratic activists and organizers launched a campaign imploring the president to step aside in the interest of ensuring Trump's defeat in November.
"I don't think anybody's more qualified to be president or win this race than me," Biden declared Friday, downplaying recent polling data showing him faring worse against Trump than potential Democratic alternatives, including Vice President Kamala Harris.
Asked how he would feel if he stayed in the race and Trump—a would-be authoritarian who's plotting a devastating attack on basic freedoms and the planet—won another four years in the White House, Biden suggested he would be at peace "as long as I gave it my all."
"That's what this is all about," the president said.
Stephanopoulos: If you stay in, and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?
Biden: I'll feel, as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, that's what this is about. pic.twitter.com/79HSyGcOI2
— nikki mccann ramÃrez (@NikkiMcR) July 6, 2024
Hours before the ABC News interview, a network of Democratic organizers, activists, and voters teamed up to launch the "Pass the Torch" campaign in a coordinated attempt to push Biden to "make good" on his 2020 pledge to be a "transition" president.
"President Joe Biden has achieved great things. His administration led us out of the pandemic and has been rebuilding our economy, standing up to corporate greed, taking urgent climate action, and so much more—domestically, he is arguably the most accomplished progressive Democratic president in generations," the campaign's website states.
"All of that—and much, much more—will be lost if Donald Trump takes back the presidency," the website continues. "Democrats need the strongest possible ticket to maximize our chances of winning in November. It has become very clear, based on both long-term polling and the recent debate, that Democrats' current ticket is not the strongest one we can put forward."
The campaign includes a petition urging Democratic members of Congress and delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to join calls for the president to step aside.
Today Democrats across the country are launching a grassroots campaign to call on Biden to #PassTheTorch, step aside as the nominee and support the candidate best able to beat Trump. Follow the campaign at @PassTheTorch24 and sign our petition at https://t.co/2dftntqMR3
— Aaron Regunberg (@AaronRegunberg) July 5, 2024
Thus far, five sitting Democratic lawmakers—Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), and Angie Craig (D-Minn.)—have urged Biden to drop out of the race, but more are expected to do so in the coming days as the party's August convention approaches.
The Washington Postreported Friday that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is "attempting to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask President Biden to exit the presidential race." Earlier in the week, Reutersreported that "there are 25 Democratic members of the House of Representatives preparing to call for Biden to step aside if he seems shaky in coming days."
Major Democratic donors, meanwhile, have "undertaken a number of initiatives to pressure" Biden to drop out of the race, according toThe New York Times.
"A group of them is working to raise as much as $100 million for a sort of escrow fund, called the Next Generation PAC, that would be used to support a replacement candidate," the Times reported. "If Mr. Biden does not step aside, the money could be used to help down-ballot candidates, according to people close to the effort."
But Biden still has the support of top congressional Democrats, with both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) backing the president in the wake of the debate.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the upper chamber's leading progressive, has also declined to join calls for Biden to end his reelection bid.
"He's not a great debater, he’s not necessarily a great speaker," Sanders toldSemafor. "People are just gonna have to say: Okay, you know what? Yeah, he's old. Yeah, he's not as articulate as he should be. But you're voting for somebody whose policies will impact your life."
"Biden is the candidate," the senator added. "I suspect he will be the candidate. I'll do my best to get him elected."
House progressives, too, have thus far not backed the push for Biden to drop out and pave the way for an alternative candidate.
"There has been not a peep from the Squad or the other members of Congress known for barnstorming progressive activism," Slate's Alexander Sammon noted Saturday. "The reason is that the question of whether Biden should run again is an internecine fight within the centrist wing of the party. Joe Biden has, for his lengthy, decadeslong career, always been the man in the middle, if not slightly to the right, of the Democratic continuum."
"Now many of the same centrists who previously pushed for Biden are freaking out about his ability to win the election," Sammon wrote. "There's no real upside for Squad members to put themselves in the line of fire during an already bitter public deliberation."
The Timesreported late Friday that Biden's interview with Stephanopoulos appears to have done little to change the minds of people on either side of the question.
"A handful of current and former Democratic officials who had called on Mr. Biden to end his reelection campaign said the interview had done little, or even nothing, to address their concerns," the Times observed. "Reliable supporters of the president's reelection campaign similarly fanned out to television networks, declaring once more that they were sticking with Mr. Biden."
"Other Democrats who had raised concerns about the president's performance, but had not gone as far as to call for Mr. Biden to drop out, said the interview did not significantly change their views of his candidacy," the newspaper continued.
Doggett, who was the first congressional Democrat to urge Biden to step aside, toldCNN following Biden's Friday interview that "the need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday."
The Texas Democrat warned that "every day he delays" dropping out "makes it more difficult for a new person to come on board who can defeat Donald Trump."
Biden, Doggett added, "does not want his legacy to be that he's the one who turned our country over to a tyrant."
This story has been updated to include additional House Democrats who have called on Biden to step aside.
As Other Governors Boost Biden, Maura Healey Says 'Listen to the American People'
"Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump," the Massachusetts Democrat said.
While other Democratic governors across the United States reiterate their support for President Joe Biden amid calls for him to be replaced as the party's nominee for the November election, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Friday suggested that he should consider some of the criticism.
"President Biden saved our democracy in 2020 and has done an outstanding job over the last four years," Healey said in a statement, recalling his previous win over former President Donald Trump, who is now the presumptive Republican nominee.
"I am deeply grateful for his leadership. And I know he agrees this is the most important election of our lifetimes," Healey continued. "The best way forward right now is a decision for the president to make. Over the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump. Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump."
Despite mounting calls for Biden to step aside—and "pass the torch" to Vice President Kamala Harris or another top Democrat—since his poor performance in a CNN-hosted debate against Trump last week, the president has remained defiant, declaring at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Friday that "I am running and going to win again."
"I am running and going to win again."
President Joe Biden addressed the pressure to end his campaign during a rally in Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/N1y6Pidkqp
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 5, 2024
After a Wednesday gathering with Democratic governors—including Healey—at the White House, the Biden-Harris reelection campaign sent out an email that said, "Coming out of the meeting, the message was clear: Joe Biden has governors' backs, and they are proud to have his."
The email highlighted recent supportive statements from Govs. John Carney of Delaware, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Josh Green of Hawaii, Kathy Hochul of New York, Dan McKee of Rhode Island, Wes Moore of Maryland, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Gavin Newsom of California, Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
The president told governors at the meeting that "he needs to get more sleep and work fewer hours, including curtailing events after 8:00 pm," The New York Timesreported. "Biden also told the governors that he had been examined by his physician at some point in the days after the debate because of the cold he was suffering from and that he was fine."
On Capitol Hill, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) "is attempting to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask President Biden to exit the presidential race," The Washington Postreported Friday. The newspaper noted that "Warner spokeswoman Rachel Cohen would neither confirm nor deny that the senator thinks Biden needs to drop out of the race."
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democrat in Congress to call on Biden to withdraw from the race on Tuesday. The following day, Congressman Raúl Grijalva of Arizona became the second.
Biden is also facing pressure to drop out from some major donors. In a lengthy statement to CNBC on Thursday, Abigail Disney said: "I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high."
Democrats and other critics urging Biden to reconsider his run have pointed to growing concerns about a second Trump term considering a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling giving the president king-like powers, the Republican's desire to be a dictator on "day one," and fears that Trump will work to impose the far-right's Project 2025 policy agenda.
In an effort to reassure voters, Biden's team has set up a televised interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, which is set to air Friday at 8:00 pm ET. Viewers will also be able to watch the interview on the ABC application for smartphones or tablets, or online at ABC.com.