Rep. Bob Good says he informed his House Freedom Caucus members that he will step aside as the group’s chair if the Virginia conservative ultimately does not emerge victorious in the state recount for his GOP primary race.

Good briefed the entire MAGA-aligned group of his plans in a closed-door meeting earlier this week, though he said the leadership board of the Freedom Caucus was aware beforehand. His remarks come as Good moves forward with requesting an official recount this week after the Commonwealth certified that his challenger John McGuire led him by more than 300 votes.

And while he hopes to make up the deficit of votes and emerge victorious, Good is nonetheless signaling that he is working with the group to make contingency plans.

“I told the membership that if I didn’t do well in my recount that I would step down as chair,” Good confirmed for the first time publicly in an interview with POLITICO on Wednesday. “I think that would probably be in the best interest of the organization. … Just so that’s not the story all the time.”

His remarks come after Punchbowl News first reported his privately shared plans Wednesday morning.

Good also dismissed recent media reports that he lacks the proper funds to move forward with a recount while acknowledging he told supporters his campaign is predicting a price tag ranging from $75,000 to $100,000. But that, he says, all depends on how much the state ultimately charges him to process more than 60,000 ballots in addition to legal costs.

“I believe that I filed today. We contemplated waiting right up to the deadline. … You had to file it by Friday, 10 days after certification. We couldn’t file it until it was certified,” Good said.

As for his potential successor, he declined to name names but noted that he is “confident” that the Freedom Caucus board has “very strong, capable individuals” who can rise to the occasion.

“They don’t need me as chair, they just need a good board chair,” he said, no pun intended.

Good also argued that despite attacks from his critics, the changes he’s made under his leadership were already set in motion by his predecessors — a ball he kept rolling and one he predicts will continue rolling in the same direction, no matter who is leading the group.

“I would challenge anyone to substantiate any claims that I have taken HFC in a direction that’s different than Perry or Biggs,” he said, pointing to former HFC Chairs Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). “These high-profile conflicts and fights we have predated me.”

“The board is pretty united and the majority of HFC is united,” Good added.

Still, one fight does center around Good. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) was ejected from the Freedom Caucus over his decision to back Good’s opponent, as first reported by POLITICO. The effort was led by one of his allies and proved to further anger those who were close to Davidson, including Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Davidson was kicked out after being found as a member not in good standing, which lowered the threshold to needing only a simple majority to remove him.

But if it does ultimately come down to a new chair search, Good is still deciding whether he will privately make his preference known.

“Probably, but I don’t know,” he said, noting that they respect each other’s opinions but do not control one another.

Some names cropping up include Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), as well as Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.).

Rep. Earl Blumenauer became the ninth House Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop his bid for reelection.

“While this is a decision for the president and the first lady, I hope they will come to the conclusion that I and others have: President Biden should not be the Democratic presidential nominee,” he said in a statement.

The veteran Oregon lawmaker is retiring from Congress this year.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has told lawmakers in private meetings that he’ll relay concerns regarding the president’s electability to Joe Biden, according to two people familiar with the situation, as more Democrats call for him to step aside.

Jeffries has convened listening sessions in recent days with rattled members of the caucus, including a Wednesday meeting with members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition to discuss how having Biden at the top of the ticket could impact incumbents in battleground districts. Meanwhile, Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi, whom rank-and-file Democrats have sought out for advice, has been having her own private conversations with Democrats to listen to their concerns, according to two people familiar with those discussions.

It’s still not clear when Jeffries will speak with the president. Asked Wednesday about his plans to talk with Biden, Jeffries sidestepped and said the “comprehensive conversations with the House Democratic Caucus” will be “the focus of our activity today, tomorrow and we’ll see where we go from there.”

CNN first reported Jeffries’ conversations.

Some key Democrats who have won tough races have started to urge Biden to get out of the race. Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), who represents a purple district, became the eighth House Democrat to publicly call for Biden to step aside on Wednesday, writing in an op-ed: “for the good of our country, for the future of our kids and grandkids, I am asking Joe Biden to step aside in the upcoming election and deliver on his promise to be a ‘bridge’ to a new generation of leaders.”

Pelosi earlier Wednesday had raised eyebrows in the caucus by saying on Morning Joe that Biden ultimately had to make the decision on whether he would continue his reelection bid, despite the president repeatedly saying he would stay in the race. Many in the caucus have looked to direction from her, Jeffries and other leaders on how to proceed as lawmakers panic over Biden’s electoral prospects.

The news of Jeffries’ outreach comes after Biden’s high-profile interview last Friday with ABC, where he declined to answer a hypothetical about staying in the race if top Democrats told him they’re concerned about losing the House and the Senate with him at the top of the ticket.

“I’m not gonna answer that question. It’s not gonna happen,” Biden responded at the time.

Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.

A bipartisan group of senators unveiled legislation Wednesday that they said would bar members of Congress and other elected officials from trading stocks while in office.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said his panel would take the “historic step” of considering the measure at a July 24 markup.

“Americans deserve to have confidence that their federal elected officials are making decisions that are in the best interest of the American public and not in the interest of any personal finances,” Peters said at a press conference Wednesday.

Under the legislation, members would be “immediately” banned from trading stocks if the bill is signed by the president, while spouses and children of elected officials would be barred beginning in March 2027, according to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Peters worked hard to create legislation “that will be tough, that will not close the loopholes, that will close the avenues of avoidance, that will impose real penalties.”

The Missouri Republican said he was unsure at this point whether enough members would support the measure on the floor to ensure its passage.

They were joined in unveiling the measure by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.).

Nagging questions about Joe Biden’s reelection seem poised to continue on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was decidedly lukewarm in her assessment of the situation to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision. Because time is running short.” Asked if she’d like him to continue his reelection bid, the former speaker said merely: “I want him to do whatever he decides to do.”

Pelosi previously expressed “full confidence” in Biden, and she spoke glowingly of his record in office on Wednesday morning.

It briefly seemed like Biden’s team had weathered much of the political storm on Tuesday — Senate Democrats were mum after a ‘family discussion’ on the president’s viability, and no flood of new calls for the incumbent to step aside materialized from the House side.

But Pelosi’s comments come after Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) went public with his private concerns late Tuesday, telling CNN former President Donald Trump could win this fall in a “landslide” and that the Biden White House has done “nothing to really demonstrate that they have a plan to win this election.”

The blunt talk from the usually soft-spoken senator followed notable developments from two New Jersey Democrats: Rep. Mikie Sherrill called for Biden to stand down (the 7th member to publicly do so). And Rep. Andy Kim, the likely next senator from the Garden State, acknowledged lingering “concerns” with Biden as the party’s standard bearer.

What does it all amount to? The questions on Biden’s fitness won’t be going away anytime soon, especially leading up to a Thursday press conference from the president surrounding the NATO summit in Washington.

Senate Democrats, like their House counterparts before them, left a caucus meeting Tuesday trapped in Joe Biden-electability limbo.

Senators went into the meeting, their first since the president’s shaky debate, saying they needed to have a broader conversation before offering their assessment of Biden’s standing atop the ticket. By the end, it seemed all Democrats agreed on is that they need to beat former President Donald Trump in November.

Majority Whip Dick Durbin said “it remains to be seen” if Biden should still be the party’s presidential nominee. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), following the lunch on Tuesday, stood behind Biden and said it’s up to voters on how to proceed.

“I think we have some ideas about how to proceed next,” Cantwell said. “Me personally, I want a standard bearer that’s going to keep it on an economic message. I don’t think we’ve done enough of that, I think we have to do more of that. Whoever’s leading has to do more of that.”

Many typically chatty senators almost entirely refused to talk with press about their caucus’ conversation — aside from a few members saying the group had a “good” or “constructive” discussion. Many also refused to answer questions on whether there were calls for Biden to step down within the lunch. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) insisted no one was negative.

A number of senators spoke at the meeting, according to attendees, and the conversation appears to have remained civil.

The House Democratic meeting Tuesday morning was a similar story — they emerged from the family discussion with no clear path forward on how to handle Biden’s future on the ticket. While seven House Democrats have called on Biden to step aside as the party nominee, no Senate Democrats have done so. Many have offered critical remarks or insisted the president needs to prove himself as capable of staying in the race.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, at the weekly Democratic leadership press conference following the lunch, only echoed his oft-repeated “I’m with Joe” line when asked repeated questions about Biden’s prospects.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a senior Senate Democrat who voiced serious concerns about Biden’s viability, didn’t speak about the president during that press conference Tuesday. She said in a statement Monday that Democrats need to see “a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future.”

Another member of Senate Democratic leadership, Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), expressed confidence in Biden’s viability in her swing state even as “I appreciate and understand” concerns with the incumbent following his debate performance. The meeting, the Michigan Democrat said, had a large focus on Trump.

“The meeting was very thoughtful and very good and we spent most of our time talking about Donald Trump and why a convicted felon has not been called upon to step down by the press,” Stabenow said.

Other lawmakers, including several in competitive reelection bids of their own, played coy on whether it would be valuable for Biden to come to Capitol Hill to address his party.

“I’m not going to give advice,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who’s up for reelection in his swing state this fall.

David Lim and Eleanor Mueller contributed to this report.

New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday became the latest House Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to step off the ticket.

“I know that President Biden and his team have been true public servants and have put the country and the best interests of democracy first and foremost in their considerations,” she said in a statement. “And because I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country, I am asking that he declare that he won’t run for reelection and will help lead us through a process toward a new nominee.”

Sherrill, who flipped a GOP-held seat in 2018 before it became bluer in redistricting, has been a key national security voice in the party. She’s now the seventh member of the House Democratic caucus to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the presidential race.

Chuck Schumer has the same three-word answer anytime he’s asked about the election prospects of President Joe Biden: “I’m with Joe.”

The Senate majority leader said the same phrase three times on Tuesday during his weekly press conference, when reporters asked about the incumbent’s viability in defeating former President Donald Trump.

“As I’ve said before, I’m with Joe,” Schumer said, declining to offer further insight into what Democrats discussed at their weekly lunch meeting.

Schumer declined to state whether he agreed with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), another member of Democratic leadership, that Biden “must do more” to reassure Democrats and needs to be “a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future.”

The New York Democrat has been sparing in his public comments about Biden since the president’s shaky debate performance against Trump. He’s offered some version of the line he used Tuesday during an event in upstate New York and then upon returning to Washington on Monday.

Biden waited nearly a week after his debate performance to call Schumer and other senior Democrats in Congress.

No Senate Democrats have publicly called for Biden to abandon his reelection bid, though plenty have expressed concerns publicly — and privately — about his ability to vigorously make the case against Trump as polls show the incumbent steadily trailing. Lawmakers were largely mum on their conference discussion as they exited lunches Tuesday afternoon.

The leadership-bucking House Freedom Caucus is facing a watershed moment, as several internal clashes risk ripping the group apart.

The intense flare-up centers around the Monday night ouster of Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), led by allies of Chair Bob Good (R-Va.), who is on the precipice of losing his own reelection bid. Davidson had endorsed Good’s primary challenger, John McGuire.

The 16-13 decision to remove Davidson — a move his allies felt bent the group’s bylaws, and took place when some Davidson supporters weren’t present — has members predicting that others will resign over the matter. One lawmaker already announced directly after the vote that they would: Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas).

“I’m sure we’ll have some,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said about the possibility that more members will soon depart the group. “We’ve got a lot of issues to address.”

It’s not the first time the group has had tension recently, but the public comments underline just how strong the current divisions are, given the group’s typically secretive nature. Members were warned not to talk about the Davidson drama, according to two people in the group’s recent meetings, but frustrated lawmakers have still privately and publicly complained.

Generally, under the group’s bylaws, Freedom Caucus members are only found to not be in good standing — a label that makes it easier to oust someone — if they haven’t paid their dues or don’t attend meetings. That was not the case with Davidson. But Good’s allies felt Davidson’s endorsement constituted a clear betrayal and necessitated booting him, a decision that deeply divided the group.

Davidson’s most vocal ally, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), made clear he disagreed with that choice. And he acknowledged the possibility that more of the roughly three dozen group members could head for the exits.

“I voted against it and spoke against it. … I’ve always been opposed to that,” Jordan said, referring to the ouster vote, adding that it was “unfortunate” that other members of the group were leaving.

A Freedom Caucus spokesperson responded to a request for comment by saying the group doesn’t discuss internal matters.

Even before the board tapped Good to become chair, the group’s membership has been having a long-simmering identity crisis. Norman, noting that there are “differences of opinion” within the group, floated that members were already likely to head for exits even before the Davidson fight. While the group was once considered a monolith, there are increasingly public clashes between the group’s old guard and newer members who were swept in during and after Donald Trump’s time in the White House.

Early fault lines occurred over tactics some in the group have deployed in order to make demands. Some of the most high-profile issues occurred when a subset of Freedom Caucus members helped block Kevin McCarthy from the speakership in January 2021, and then when five HFC members joined the effort to remove the Californian last fall.

There is also frustration about certain strategies members of the bloc have used on the House floor to push changes to legislation, including blocking party bills by tanking procedural votes. The group has split several times over whether or not they should be using hardball tactics like sinking legislation to send a message to leadership.

And the group even publicly and privately split over whether to back an unsuccessful bid to oust Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this year.

Tempers could cool if Good vacates his position as chair. He lost his primary by about 400 votes, a margin that allows him to request a recount. He’s publicly stated he plans to do so, though he has not yet officially triggered that process.

But Republican aides and HFC members are already privately questioning if he can remain as Freedom Caucus chair for the rest of the year if his election loss becomes official, private discussions that were first reported by POLITICO.

Because Good was initially elected to serve as chair through 2025, he will have to step down early unless he somehow wins a recount. Some members privately bet he remains chair through December and goes out swinging, while others believe he will be pushed out earlier if he officially loses.

Several names are being floated as a potential successor if Good exits early: Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).