D.N.C. Aims to Push Biden Toward Nomination Next Week, Despite Doubts

Leaders of the Democratic National Committee are aiming for a process that would formalize the nomination by the end of July, even as Democrats remain fiercely split over his candidacy.

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President Biden has said repeatedly that he is not leaving the race.

Leaders of the Democratic National Committee are moving swiftly to confirm President Biden as his party’s presidential nominee by the end of July, according to four people briefed on the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss the sensitive deliberations.

The move would formalize Mr. Biden as the nominee at a moment when Democrats are torn over whether he should run again after his poor debate performance.

Since May, he has been set to be confirmed through a virtual roll call, weeks before the Democratic National Convention in August.

But as Mr. Biden faces persistent doubts from within his party, some delegates involved with the behind-the-scene bureaucratic process are eager to end the public conversations about his future that are unfolding during a fiercely contested campaign.

Not everyone agrees: In a previously unreported move, a group of House Democrats who question whether he should forge ahead is trying to rally support for changing the nominating path to allow for potential challenges at the convention. Donors and prominent strategists have floated ideas that would open the door to other candidates, but party insiders have dismissed those proposals as fanciful.

The process will effectively begin when the rules committee of the Democratic National Convention meets on a video call at 11 a.m. on Friday, followed by another party group on Sunday. All of the more than 4,000 delegates are expected to begin casting their ballots as soon as Monday, a process that is likely to take about a week. After that, the committee is expected to quickly hold the roll call, a tradition that typically occurs on the convention floor but is being held virtually this year.

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