Biden drops out: What happens next

President Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday, setting up a historic series of events in the months before the November election.

The president endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to take over as the nominee after he announced his decision to step aside. His full support for her to be at the top of the ticket gives Democrats a clear successor with weeks to go before the convention, but her becoming the nominee is not inevitable.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden said in a post on the social platform X.

The president’s decision throws the 2024 election into uncharted territory, with Democrats encouraged by the president to rally around her and her hunt for a running mate kicking off.

While Biden’s endorsement will be sure to make others quickly fall in line, some Democrats, like Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who was the first to call for Biden to step aside, have voiced that the party should be open to any candidate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) praised Biden in a statement on Sunday but notably didn’t endorse Harris.

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison on Sunday said that the party will go forward this week with selecting a nominee, not mentioning Harris specially in his statement.

“In the coming days, the Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November,” he said. “This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the Party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.”

“In short order, the American people will hear from the Democratic Party on next steps and the path forward for the nomination process,” he added.

The Democrats are set to begin their convention on Aug. 19, and Harris, with Biden’s endorsement, would have to solidify the support of the nearly 3,900 delegates who pledged to support the president during the primary.

Biden’s reelection campaign war chest this cycle could be transferred only to Harris because she was on the ticket with him during those months of fundraising. The Biden-Harris team has $91 million in cash on hand as of the latest filings.

She also can take over the campaign infrastructure and staff, and much of the campaign’s messaging already was under a Team Biden-Harris title. Harris has been campaigning around the country for the Biden-Harris ticket — she was just in North Carolina last week with Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who has been floated as a running mate for her.

The politics around Harris adds complexities to the situation.

Democrats are coming off a chaotic three weeks since Biden’s dismal debate performance and around 30 members calling for him to step aside before he ultimately made his announcement. Coalescing around Harris in a show of unity could be seen internally as essential for them to focus on defeating former President Trump, who cemented his hold over the GOP during last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Harris, who is Black and Asian American, is a history-making first female vice president and would be the first woman president. She also is 59 years old, notably younger than Biden, 81, and her potential political rival Trump, who is 78.

Biden has a clear incentive in backing Harris. He has faced pressure from Democratic leadership, including former President Obama and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and getting back in the driver’s seat by handpicking his successor would be seen as favorable to his legacy.

In recent weeks, Biden’s team has reminded the political world that they are often underestimated, which largely stems from Obama’s decision to back former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the next Democratic presidential nominee over his vice president, Biden.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) just last week said it would move forward with plans to nominate Biden through a virtual roll call ahead of the convention.

The party said Wednesday that no virtual voting will start until Aug. 1, despite warnings from House Democrats about moving ahead at all with the plans while Biden was facing political turmoil. The DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment over those plans as of Sunday.