Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is organizing a Monday meeting for Senate Democrats to discuss Joe Biden’s path forward as the party’s presidential nominee, according to a source familiar with the plans.

The meeting is tentatively set to take place after the Senate finishes voting Monday night. The chamber has been on a two-week recess, and it will be senators’ first day back in town since the president’s shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump. It’s unclear how many senators are planning to attend.

Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is hardly seen as a Hill rabble-rouser. But the planned meeting shows Biden has yet to outrun concerns that stemmed from his uneven and halting appearance on the debate stage.

While two House Democrats — Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) — have called on Biden to step aside as the party’s nominee, no Senate Democrats have publicly spoken out in similar fashion.

Many have, however, issued tough assessments of the president’s performance and concerns over how he’d be received by voters after. The president has been doing damage control in the days since, including calls to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), among others.

Warner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post was first to report on Warner’s efforts.

Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) became the second House Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to abandon his bid for a second term following his shaky debate performance last week.

In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Grijalva said the president should “shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.” The longtime Arizona Democrat indicated he would support Biden if he remains the Democratic nominee.

Grijalva, ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, becomes the second House Democrat after Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) to call for Biden to step aside, as frustration has mounted among rank-and-file lawmakers. However, his call takes on additional weight as a Democrat from a swing state carried by Biden in 2020 — a state where the president lags behind former President Donald Trump in public polling.

Two other frontline House Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) — said in local media interviews Tuesday that they believe Biden would lose the presidential race to Trump.

Grijalva is also the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Top congressional leaders plan to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy next Wednesday during the NATO Summit in Washington, where allies will discuss the besieged nation’s path into the alliance.

Who’s in: On the Senate side, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will lead a bipartisan group of senators meeting with Zelenskyy. From the lower chamber, House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) will meet with the Ukrainian leader.

POLITICO confirmed the plans Wednesday with spokespeople for Johnson, McCaul and two other people familiar with them who were granted anonymity to discuss internal planning. The scheduled meetings have not been previously reported.

Uncertainty about U.S. commitment: The visit also comes as Zelenskyy is trying to understand whether after Nov. 5 — when Americans go to the polls — Ukraine would still have the powerful support of the U.S., or be left to fend for itself.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV published Wednesday, Zelenskyy lamented Washington’s delays in providing aid.

“They can’t plan my life and the life of our people and our children,” he said. “We want to understand whether in November we will have the powerful support of the U.S., or will be all alone.”

The aid in the works, and asked for: After a six-month delay, Congress this year passed a bipartisan national security measure with funds for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Zelenskyy met this week with a bipartisan congressional delegation led by House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio). Zelenskyy at the meeting continued to advocate for additional air support and air defenses “and also for the United States’ aid to come more quickly, all of which are things that we share of his concerns,” Turner said in a statement.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

The Senate will begin marking up annual spending bills next week, starting with three fiscal 2025 measures and overall funding totals for a dozen appropriations bills.

Bypassing subcommittee markups, the full Senate Appropriations Committee will take up its Legislative Branch, Military Construction-VA and Agriculture-FDA spending bills on July 11, in addition to a dozen subcommittee allocations known as the 302(b)s.

Key context: Like last year, Senate Democrats and Republicans have not reached an agreement on overall funding levels for 12 appropriations bills, and the numbers will likely pass the committee along party lines. The spending bills that flow from those totals, however, are expected to pass the committee with bipartisan support.

The committee approved a dozen appropriations bills last summer for the first time in five years under the leadership of Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and ranking member Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

In the House: Six bills — including the Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, Energy-Water, Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-HUD and Agriculture-FDA measures — are headed for full committee markups next week, while GOP leaders in the lower chamber aim to pass their Legislative Branch funding measure on the floor.

House Republicans have so far passed their Military Construction-VA, Defense, State-Foreign Operations and Homeland Security bills on the floor, pursuing an ambitious plan to approve all 12 before the August recess.

With federal cash set to run out on Oct. 1 and a presidential election approaching, Congress will almost certainly have to pass a so-called continuing resolution to avoid a shutdown later this fall. That would punt current funding levels and buy more time for bipartisan, bicameral government funding talks after Election Day.

Joe Biden’s campaign sent a memo Wednesday morning to House allies that shows still tight internal polling and the latest fundraising numbers, in an attempt to quell concerns from members about the president’s reelection efforts.

The memo, obtained by POLITICO, noted the Biden campaign “significantly outraised” the Trump campaign, bringing in $127 million to the Republican’s $112 million in June.

The memo also stated that the incoming New York Times/Siena College poll — which is expected to show a significant drop for Biden — is an “outlier,” saying other public polling and internal battleground polling from the campaign shows a “steady race” between Biden and Trump.

The note further highlights that the hour after the debate “was the best grassroots fundraising hour of the entire campaign.”

Hill Democrats — privately and publicly — have been airing concerns about Biden’s ability to run for reelection after his debate performance Thursday. While Biden has called House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), senior Democrats have largely not heard from the president.

Two moderate Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) — have said they don’t believe Biden will win in November. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) became the first sitting lawmaker to call on Biden to withdraw from the race.

President Joe Biden called House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday, two people familiar with their conversation confirmed to POLITICO Wednesday.

Biden also called staunch Hill ally Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), according to one of the people.

The news of the calls comes as many Democratic lawmakers — past and present — told POLITICO they have not heard directly from Biden after his debate performance Thursday. They have heard from senior staff but not from the president himself.

The New York Times reported the call with Jeffries first.

Sen. Joe Manchin became greatly concerned over Joe Biden’s standing after the president’s debate performance last week — so much so that he considered voicing his worries in a Sunday national TV interview before being convinced otherwise, a person familiar with his thinking confirmed to POLITICO.

In the days following the debate, Manchin (I-W.Va.) called a number of key allies to share his concerns over the president’s performance and his belief that the American people needed to hear from Biden directly.

After speaking with Biden allies — including Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) — Manchin decided against participating in a previously scheduled appearance on The Sunday Show With Jonathan Capehart, according to the person familiar.

By the time Manchin decided he wasn’t going to do the Sunday show appearance, he received a call from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who heard about his concerns with Biden’s performance.

Manchin’s office declined to comment. Manchin’s scheduled TV interview and concerns were first reportedby The Washington Post. The Senate is in recess until next week.

The Biden campaign also declined to comment on Manchin’s reaction to the president’s debate performance.

Manchin has previously used his TV appearances to make news about his positions on key issues. He once effectively ending negotiations on a version of the Biden administration’s signature Build Back Better Act on a Sunday show appearance with Fox News.

Though he was a longtime Democrat from a deeply red state, the senator recently changed his party affiliation to independent. He is not running for reelection this cycle and has endorsed a Democratic candidate to replace him.

Still, the West Virginia senator isn’t alone in his unease about the president’s performance last week. And others have not bit their tongues.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said he was “horrified” by the debate. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) called it a “really bad night” for the president. And others expressed similar reactions.

On Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first sitting congressional Democrat to call on Biden to step aside as the party nominee. Former Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, still an active member of many Democratic political circles, has said Vice President Kamala Harris should step in to replace Biden.

But a number of Democrats have continued to voice their support for the president, including Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Nicholas Wu contributed to this report. 

After last week’s debate, many Democrats are privately — and publicly — sharing concerns about President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.

Not only did lawmakers watching see an uneven performance on TV, many didn’t answer to questions about whether they’ve spoken with the president in recent months.

POLITICO reached out to more than 100 Democratic Senate and House offices — both chambers are out of session for the Fourth of July holiday this week — on Tuesday in the aftermath of Biden’s uneven debate performance last week. The vast majority did not respond to questions about when their members last interacted with the president and whether they’ve found him accessible.

Lawmakers, including very senior ones, have cited positive interactions with Biden at public events and direct communication between their staff and the White House — but none indicated direct outreach in other forums from the president in the wake of the debate.

Some pointed to conversations with chief of staff Jeff Zients and White House counselor Steve Ricchetti, but not Biden himself. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday the president had been out campaigning in the days after the debate, but he planned to reach out to Hill leaders this week and that “high-level, senior” administration officials had already talked to leadership.

It’s an indication that efforts to tamp down the private worries among elected lawmakers about Biden’s capacity to remain president for a second four-year term are still in their infancy.

“The president has spoken personally with multiple elected officials on the Hill and across the battlegrounds since the debate,” said Lauren Hitt, a Biden campaign spokesperson, without detailing who those conversations included.

Rank-and-file members don’t often get a ton of personal outreach from the president outside of formal events. But even top leaders and Biden allies hadn’t heard directly from the president in recent days.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a Biden campaign co-chair who played a key role in securing the nomination for the president in 2020, said he had yet to hear from the incumbent following the debate — but indicated he had a call slated for later Tuesday.

“I’ve only had one of my colleagues say to me they think there should be some kind of replacement. Everybody else expressed concern, but they dug in,” he said on MSNBC Tuesday afternoon.

Clyburn added he would support Vice President Kamala Harris if Biden “were to step aside.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also reiterated his support for Biden on Tuesday in comments to a reporter at an event in New York.

Jean-Pierre said Biden hadn’t called Capitol Hill Democrats because he’s been engaging “directly with supporters,” but that his senior aides had been in touch with senior party figures.

“It’s not like we were silent. It’s not like we were quiet. It’s not like we were not engaging with them — we were,” Jean-Pierre said.

Notably, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — usually a staunch defender of Biden — said Tuesday she had not heard from him since the debate, but had spoken to aides close to him.

“No, I haven’t spoken to him since the debate, but I have spoken to him regularly,” Pelosi said on MSNBC. “But we all have been in touch with people close to the president, so it’s not a question of not having an opportunity to make our concerns known or have some questions answered.”

A spokesperson later reiterated the former speaker has “full confidence” in Biden following the interview.

Amid those Democratic calls for unscripted interactions for Biden to demonstrate his stamina and fitness, ABC News announced Biden would sit down with George Stephanopoulos for an interview to air July 5 and over the weekend.

The relative radio silence toward Capitol Hill comes as senior Democrats are only amplifying their concerns publicly with longtime Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesdaybecoming the first to call for Biden to stand down.

A handful of Democrats pointed to recent interactions with the president, though few cited outreach following the debate. And roughly a half-dozen House Democratic aides, granted anonymity to speak candidly, acknowledged that while their bosses might hobnob with Biden at events, most of the day-to-day interaction with the White House is happening at the staff level.

“We hear from [White House] staff often including from high-level people,” one aide said, adding that while their boss has interacted with Biden at “lots” of events, it’s not like former President Barack Obama was giving “huge amounts of face time” to members either.

Another House Democratic aide added that their boss has met with Biden but not often, instead mainly interacting with White House staff. A third echoed that they regularly interact with White House staff but that their boss was last with Biden in May and “does not meet with POTUS frequently.”

The office of Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said he saw Biden on Saturday —at a fundraiser in New Jersey — and described the president as “very accessible” with the longtime lawmaker always getting his calls returned. Bidenwas also at an event in New York with Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Friday a day after the debate.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, met with Biden when he attended a fundraiser in Connecticut in early June and flew back with the president on Air Force One, according to his office.

Speaking briefly after a pro forma session Tuesday, Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) expressed confidence in Biden remaining the nominee. She said she’d recently spent considerable time with Biden and found he “had a great handle on the material and topic of discussion and gave the impression to me that he is the commander in chief of the United States.”

Other Democrats defended the president’s access and alertness in other moments, both public and private. Rep. Judy Chu of California, chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in a statement she’d been with Biden recently for the signing of a proclamation and had seen him at other White House events where she “found him to be very engaged, with a lot of stamina, and interacting with so many people so positively — including with my own guests.”

Irie Sentner and Ursula Perano contributed to this report.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), one of the most centrist Democrats in Congress, predicted his party would lose the White House this fall but added “I’m OK with that.”

“While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win,” he wrote in an op-ed in The Bangor Daily News. “Unlike [President Joe] Biden and many others, I refuse to participate in a campaign to scare voters with the idea that Trump will end our democratic system.”

He urged everyone to “ignore the chattering class’s scare tactics and political pipedreams. We don’t need party insiders in smoke-filled back rooms to save us. We can defend our democracy without them.” If Trump wins, Golden noted Maine’s representatives would have to work with the Republican’s administration.

Golden’s district voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020, awarding the former president an electoral vote given Maine’s unique system. He is now serving his third term in the House.

Austin Theriault, Golden’s GOP opponent in the fall, called the op-ed “a very phony attempt to avoid accountability” in a social media post. “Simple questions for Jared Golden: Does he support Joe Biden for President or not? Does Golden believe Biden is mentally competent or not? He won’t say, because he puts politics ahead of Mainers,” Theriault wrote.