For now, Democrats circle the wagons for Biden

Supreme Court ready to rule on Trump immunity

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for July 1, 2024:

• Most Democrats in Congress stay silent on last week’s debate.

• Steve Bannon heads to prison.

• Who are the happiest members of Congress this week?

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THIS WEEK. The House and Senate are both on break for July 4. The Supreme Court wraps up work today. All eyes on President Biden.

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BIDEN. Democrats in Congress start this week still trying to figure out the best way forward in 2024 - after last week’s rough debate night for President Biden. It was telling that most Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill remained silent in public over the weekend, seemingly waiting to see what might come next from the President and his top aides. It was obvious that there is concern about the debate’s impact.

• TOP DEM. "It certainly was a setback," House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a Sunday interview on MSNBC. "I've been very clear that it was an underwhelming performance on Thursday during the debate, as President Biden and his campaign have acknowledged."

• CONCERN. While Jeffries did not sound like someone ready to abandon Biden - he said discussions about the 2024 election with fellow Democrats would continue this week while lawmakers are back home. "We're running against a con man who lied his way through the entire debate on Thursday,” Jeffries said.

• UNITED. We know that some Democrats are pressing the panic button in private. But they haven't done that in public - yet. "There is not one single senior Democrat (who has come out against Biden)," Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told ABC's 'This Week.' "There’s not a single Governor, there’s not a single Senator.” Does that change this week? Stay tuned.

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CAPITOL HILL. Who are the happiest politicians in the world to *not* be at work this week? That answer is probably Democrats in Congress. If the House and Senate were in session, it would be a crazy scene in the halls of the Capitol, with reporters chasing Democrats for comments about Biden. Instead, Democratic lawmakers can take a deep breath back home. They’ll have a few days to figure out what to say at any July 4th event.

• FATE. When it comes to Democrats in Congress, keep one thing in mind - if they truly feel like Biden is endangering their own seats, they will do whatever is necessary to save themselves. So far, we haven't seen that - but I will again note how quiet most Democratic lawmakers have been since last Thursday night.

• WHAT'S NEXT. What is very obvious on this Monday morning is that the Biden debate story isn't done. This wasn't something manufactured by the media or by the Trump Campaign. There are plenty of Democrats who have openly said that President Biden's debate performance was weak - raising questions about his age and mental agility.

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HIT TRUMP. There was a definite pivot by some Democrats over the weekend to more directly hit Trump - in part to take some of the heat off of Biden. "Let us not make a judgment about a presidency on one debate," ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN as she took aim at Trump. "On one side of the screen, you have integrity. The other side, you have dishonesty."

• POLLING. New polls conducted since the debate had some good and bad news for Democrats. One poll had Biden still leading Trump. But a CBS News poll found that 72 percent of registered voters don't think Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as President. That was up from 65 percent.

• LEAKS. We are also starting to see more leaks - more stories about when Biden didn't seem as sharp as he once was. For instance, the Financial Times reported that at a meeting of Biden and European leaders this year, Biden seemed fine - until he repeated a story that he had told earlier in the same meeting. "Everyone's heart sank."

• EVIDENCE. All you have to do is compare the videotape of Biden from 2024 with 2020 and you can see that he's lost a step or two. Is that disqualifying on its own for voters? For some the answer is yes. But as I wrote on Saturday, when you replace Biden with another Democrat, it doesn't really change the polling outcomes against Trump at all.

BOTTOM LINE. What does this mix of evidence tell me? That most Democrats are ready to stick with Biden because they cannot stomach the idea of Trump winning in November. It also tells me that there are still very major concerns about Trump - because we certainly didn’t see any immediate bump for him in the polls.

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FETTERMAN. Editorials over the weekend in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the New York Times calling for Biden to step aside further aggravated Democrats. The New York Times call especially grated on Democrats. "Fuck that," tweeted Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).

• CONGRESS. "Biden had a bad debate night, but he’s been a damn good President," said Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA), one of the few Democrats to say anything about Biden's situation, rejecting calls for Biden to step aside as the Democratic Party nominee.

• CHEESESTEAK. The Philadelphia Inquirer had a different take. "Biden had a horrible night Thursday," the paper's editorial board wrote. "But the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump."

• DIFFERENT GUY. If you missed it, Biden was a different person at his campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday. "I don't speak as smoothly as I used to," Biden acknowledged. While his energy on the stump encouraged Democrats - it was also a pretty big reminder as to his struggles on Thursday night.

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CAMPAIGN. In a fundraising email, the Biden Campaign this weekend hit back at those urging Biden to change course. "The bedwetting brigade is calling for Joe Biden to 'drop out.'" the campaign email stated. "That is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose."

• GRUMBLING. Biden's troubles again exposed fissures within the Democratic Party about how the November campaign was being conducted against Trump - even before last week's debate debacle. "The problems with this campaign go way beyond messaging," said Democratic strategist Jim Manley. "They need to figure out what went wrong and fix it - now."

• OBAMA. The troubles also showed us some fault lines between past advisers to Barack Obama and Team Biden. A Biden campaign email took a swing at 'some self-important podcasters,' especially angered by criticism from Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter.

• JONFAVS. "It seems like Biden and his team think that despite what we all saw on Thursday night, the President is still the best candidate," Favreau tweeted after a lot of blowback. "That's their call," as Favreau vowed to stick with Biden over Trump no matter what. "Stakes are too high to do anything else."

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SUPREME COURT. Today is expected to be the final day of opinions for the U.S. Supreme Court, highlighted by a decision on whether former President Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution related to the Jan. 6 investigation. The Justices clearly held that decision back until after last week's Trump-Biden debate, further delaying Trump's trial.

• COUNTDOWN. If not for the media firestorm over Thursday night's debate, today's Trump decision - along with the months of slow walking by the Supreme Court - would most certainly have been the top news headline this morning. But Biden’s performance changed all of that.

• IMMUNITY. Trump and his legal team have told the Supreme Court that a 'former President deserves absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts.' Democrats see it much differently. "The Founding Fathers did not intend for the President to be a king," said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ).

• RECUSAL. Don't forget, Democrats wanted both Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito to recuse themselves from this Trump decision.

FOURSOME. In addition to the Trump case, there are three other decisions left on the docket for today. One case involves the Federal Reserve. The other two are First Amendment cases dealing with laws from Texas and Florida - which basically would block social media companies from moderating what people post or enforcing 'community standards' of behavior. The Court convenes at 10 am.

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BANNON. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon heads to federal prison today, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday refused to allow him to stay out of jail while appealing his sentence. Bannon was convicted of Contempt of Congress, for his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.

• GOP. While Bannon faces four months in prison, Republicans in Congress continue to argue that the Jan. 6 committee was not legitimate - which is a completely bogus argument. Their amicus brief filed last week had no impact on the case, as the Supreme Court rejected Bannon's appeal.

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PRIMARIES. Last week, Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) looked like she had eked out a narrow victory in her GOP primary in Utah. But her over 2,000 vote lead has now been whittled down to 382 votes, as Republican challenger Colby Jenkins keeps getting closer. There are more votes to count - as a recount seems likely.

• OLD DOMINION. Speaking of recounts, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) seems to be heading for that as well. He still trails in his primary by 373 votes. Good has every right to ask for a recount. He does not have the right to spread evidence-free conspiracy theories about why he's losing.

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NAME CHANGE. I've written about how the Pentagon stripped the names of Confederates from military bases. Now the feds are being asked to change the name of a famous landmark in the state of Wyoming - the Devils Tower - and rename it 'Bear Lodge,' to more closely track with the historic significance of the site to Native Americans.

• INTERIOR. It's been almost 10 years since several tribes asked the feds to change the Devils Tower name - and now the 'Reconciliation in Place Names Advisory Committee' inside the Interior Department wants to follow through.

• CURRENT LAW. But there's one problem with any effort by the Interior Department. That’s because federal law says designations in Wyoming must come from an act of Congress, not the bureaucracy.

• TRIVIA. President Teddy Roosevelt made Devils Tower the first national monument in 1906, just a couple of years after some of my relatives staked a homestead claim a few miles from there. We still have some of that land, with the Tower off in the distance.

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RAP SHEET.  A Louisiana man who battled with police to enter the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been arrested.  Charles Himber wore body armor as he joined other rioters to push through the doors to the Capitol Rotunda, finally succeeding in overwhelming officers.  Himber initially told FBI agents that he had not been inside the Capitol.  He was then shown a photo of himself in the building.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.    July 1, 1864.  The price constraints of the Civil War were becoming too much for the Washington Gas-Light Company.  On this date, the company told Congress that unless it was allowed to charge more for its gas, it would shut down.  "A bill passed the Senate unanimously yesterday giving an increase of only 15 percent," wrote company officials in a letter, "but we are content with it."

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House next has votes on July 8.

The Senate next has votes on July 8.

Check President Biden’s schedule.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.

Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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