Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) answers questions at a press conference following a House Republican Conference meeting to discuss the presidential campaign and upcoming debate at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington D.C., on June 26, 2024.
House Republicans are calling on President Biden to resign from office after he announced that he would no longer seek reelection, arguing that he should not continue to serve in the White House if he is unable to run for another term.
The comments — several of which were from House GOP leadership — came shortly after Biden said he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, a seismic announcement that rocked the political world and left the path forward for Democrats uncertain.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on the social platform X. “November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”
“If the Democrat party has deemed Joe Biden unfit to run for re-election, he’s certainly unfit to control our nuclear codes. Biden must step down from office immediately,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.), the No. 3 Republican in the chamber, wrote on X.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the chair of the House GOP conference, echoed that sentiment, arguing that he is “unable and unfit” to complete his term.
“If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States,” Stefanik said in a statement. “He must immediately resign.”
Biden announced he was stepping aside from the Democratic presidential ticket in a letter to the country Sunday afternoon, reversing his decision regarding the 2024 election amid mounting pressure from Democrats calling on him to withdraw from the race. Several Democrats had urged him to drop out of the race after last month’s disastrous debate performance, where he at times stumbled over his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.
He endorsed Vice President Harris for president.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.
But while he said he plans to serve out the remainder of his term, which officially ends in the middle of January, pressure is already mounting on the president to step aside in the interim.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, echoed that sentiment, challenging Democrats to consider if Biden can continue to serve the remainder of his term.
“If the president is mentally unfit to campaign, he is mentally unfit to have the nuclear codes,” Hudson wrote in a statement. “Every House Democrat must now answer: is the president fit to serve the rest of his term?”
If Biden refuses to resign early, Republicans could turn to a resolution introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) late last month that urges Harris to convene the Cabinet and declare Biden unable to carry out the duties of the Oval Office. Harris, however, would be unlikely to do so.
The Hill reached out to Roy for more information.
Some senators also called on Biden to resign in the wake of his reelection news.
“If Joe Biden is no longer capable of running for re-election, he is no longer capable of serving as President,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote in a statement. “Being President is the hardest job in the world, and I no longer have confidence that Joe Biden can effectively execute his duties as Commander-in-Chief.”
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