White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held a press briefing for the first time since President Biden announced he would not be pursuing a second term and emphasized that his decision was not due to his health. 

After sharing their condolences to the family and friends of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who passed away over the weekend, as well as condemning the killing of Sonya Massey, who was fatally shot by an Illinois sheriff’s deputy in her home, Jean-Pierre addressed Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race.

Reading from a letter Biden issued on Sunday, Jean-Pierre said, ‘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.’

Jean-Pierre defended the president and denied any notion of him resigning from his current post and proceeded to highlight his accomplishments during his term.  

‘We believe and any suggestion of that note is ridiculous. I just laid out what the president has been able to do in almost four years, and it’s been successful,’ Jean-Pierre stated. ‘He’s been able to do more again than any president has been able to do in two terms. He’s been able to do that more in one term, and he wants to finish the job that he started and delivering more historic results for the American people.’

When asked why Biden stepped down and if it was related to his health, Jean-Pierre dodged the question again and deferred to the president’s address on Wednesday evening.

‘Again, the president’s going to speak to this directly to the American people tonight in prime time. I know many of you all will be watching it. There are specials going on tonight. He will, I promise you, he will speak to this directly to all of you tonight,’ she said. ‘But in his letter, he talked about the country. He talked about the party. He talked about the moment that we’re in right now. It is not about his health. I can say no, that’s not the reason. But hear him out tonight.’

When asked if Biden felt bullied to leave the race, Jean-Pierre again deferred to Biden’s Wednesday evening speech and said that his decision to step down was not an easy one to make. 

‘It’s obviously a historic moment, but a decision like this is very personal. It’s not easy to make. And I think there are very rare politicians who could look at the situation and make a decision. And I think it speaks to how honorable this president is, how selfless this president is, that he was able to make this decision and say, it is not about me, it is about the American people,’ Jean-Pierre said. 

‘This is about the country and making, again, a personal, difficult decision. And so I think that speaks for itself, I really do.’

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, considered one of the most vulnerable senators facing re-election, was hit with a new ad from his opponent tying him to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

‘I love Sen. Kamala Harris for so many reasons,’ a clip of Brown says in the introduction to the new ad released Wednesday from Ohio GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno. 

‘Sherrod Brown has found a new friend,’ the ad’s narrator states. ‘And just like his old friend, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris doesn’t care about the border crisis.’

The ad then plays a clip of Harris saying, ‘We have a secure border.’

‘Sherrod Brown agrees,’ the ad narrator says before a clip shows Brown saying, ‘The border is not an emergency.’

The ad goes on to highlight Brown voting with Harris and Biden 99% of the time.

‘Sherrod Brown and Kamala Harris, new friends, same old radical agenda,’ the ad says in closing.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Moreno Communications Director Reagan McCarthy said, ‘Kamala Harris would be even more radical than Joe Biden, and Sherrod Brown supports her 100%.’

‘As ‘border czar,’ Harris has overseen the worst border invasion in history, and Brown helped her implement the most liberal agenda in American history. In November, Ohioans will reject Harris and retire Brown.’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Brown campaign spokesperson said, ‘While Bernie Moreno opposed the strongest border deal in decades, Sherrod voted for the deal and successfully worked with Republicans to pass legislation to stop fentanyl from coming over the Southern border by cracking down on the chemical suppliers in China and the drug cartels in Mexico.’

‘Bernie Moreno and his special interest allies are attacking Sherrod because they know he will always do what’s right for Ohio while Moreno only looks out for himself.’

The race between Moreno and Brown is expected to be a close one as Republicans view it as one of their strongest opportunities to take back control of the Senate in November in a state that Trump won by 8 points in 2020. 

The Cook Political report ranks the race as a ‘toss up.’

Brown endorsed Harris for president after he had called for President Biden to drop out of the presidential race and has joined the list of vulnerable Democratic senators who are facing ads from their opponents tying them to Harris’ policies.

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania GOP Sen. candidate Dave McCormick released an ad highlighting the praise that Democratic Sen. Bob Casey gave Harris before it outlines a variety of her policies that the ad says makes her the ‘most liberal nominee in U.S. history.’

Former President Obama has not yet endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president, though allies in the Obama orbit indicate the 44th president is squarely behind Harris’ campaign. 

President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race Sunday afternoon in a letter posted to his X account, which was shortly followed by him endorsing Harris for president. Democrats nationwide soon united in their calls for Harris to become the party’s nominee as they square up for another election battle against former President Trump. 

Though Democratic leaders such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as well as the Clintons and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have offered Harris their endorsements, Obama has remained mum. 

‘Michelle and I just want to express our love and gratitude to Joe and Jill for leading us so ably and courageously during these perilous times — and for their commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on,’ Obama wrote in his statement following Biden bowing out, which did not including mentioning Harris. 

Since leaving the Oval Office, Obama has typically held his endorsement card close to his chest. He endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2016, while his endorsement of Biden in 2020 was only made days ahead of the Democratic National Convention. 

Obama remained coy for a long while during the 2020 election about whom he would endorse, saying he would not back anyone during the primary. As Democratic contenders such as Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont dropped out of the primary race and cleared a path for Biden, however, Obama finally endorsed his former veep in August of that year. 

Harris was also a contender in the 2020 race, and had long had a friendship with Obama prior to her 2020 run, sparking media speculation that the 44th president could throw his support behind Harris instead of his VP. 

Harris was among the first elected Democrats in the nation to endorse Obama’s first run for president in the 2008 election, snubbing Hillary Clinton in favor of the then-Illinois senator. 

‘I’m told that I was the first elected person in California to endorse [Obama] when he decided to run for president,’ Harris said back in 2019 while she was campaigning for president. ‘I will remind you, and it is important to know, that early in those days Joe Biden was running against him.’

Harris was in attendance when Obama announced his candidacy for president in 2007, after first meeting him in 2004 when he was an Illinois state senator running for the U.S. Senate, the Washington Examiner previously reported. 

‘Barack Obama will be a president who finally ends the era of fear that has been used to divide and demoralize our country,’ Harris said during California’s Democratic convention in 2008. 

As Harris built her political career from San Francisco district attorney to California attorney general and then senator, Harris was even dubbed ‘the female Obama’ by some political analysts. 

Fast-forward to Harris’ 2020 campaign for the presidency — those in Obama’s orbit rallied around Harris’ campaign while the 44th president kept quiet. Public relations executive Michael Kempner and his wife held a fundraiser for Harris in the Hamptons that cycle, after they raised millions for Obama during his 2012 re-election campaign, Politico reported at the time. Eugene Duffy, who served as national finance committee member for Obama in 2008, helped fundraise for Harris that cycle, as did Obama donor and supporter Jeff Shell, the former CEO of NBCUniversal. 

Though Obama is again remaining coy with his endorsement in the 2024 cycle, powerful advisers and allies in his orbit have joined Harris’ campaign. Harris tapped Obama’s former attorney general Eric Holder to lead the vetting process of Harris’ potential running mates, while the campaign also reportedly contacted longtime Obama adviser David Plouffe for a leadership position on the team. Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, who worked as Obama’s 2012 deputy campaign manager and Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign chair, was announced as Harris’ campaign manager. 

Ahead of Biden dropping out of the race on Sunday afternoon, Obama allies notably helped lead the charge in calling for Biden to exit the race in favor of a candidate they believed was more suitable to take on Trump. 

Obama’s former chief campaign strategist David Axelrod declared earlier this month that Biden is ‘not winning this race.’ Actor George Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed that was published just weeks after the Hollywood star co-hosted Biden, alongside Obama, for a ritzy campaign event in Los Angeles. Clooney has long had a personal friendship with Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, including vacationing with the first couple in previous years.

Another ally in Obama’s orbit, Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also called on Biden to drop out of the race this month, saying he attended the fundraiser in L.A. with Clooney and Obama and witnessed firsthand Biden’s state of mental acuity. Favreau, alongside former Obama advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor — known collectively as the ‘Obama Bros’ when they worked in the White House — also dedicated the majority of a podcast episode of ‘Pod Save America’ this month to trashing Biden. 

The ‘Obama Bros’ and other former advisers in Obama’s orbit have since taken to social media to celebrate Harris’ run. 

As momentum builds behind Harris’ candidacy, with the DNC anticipated to certify her as the nominee on Aug. 1, Obama’s statement Sunday follows his history of not expeditiously tipping the political scales in favor of one candidate over another. 

​​’We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,’ Obama said in his statement on Sunday. ‘I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.’

After President Joe Biden’s address to the nation Wednesday night, multiple doctors shared their opinions with Fox News Digital about his perceived health status based on his live speech.

Seated in the Oval Office, the president spoke relatively briefly about his withdrawal from the 2024 race and his commitment to continuing to serve the country for the next few months. 

He did not mention his recent COVID-19 infection, ongoing concerns about his cognitive health, or the recent assassination attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump.

Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor — who has never treated the president — noted that Biden seemed to be reading from a teleprompter on Wednesday night, as he often does, making it difficult for those watching to gauge his medical fitness.

Although Biden stumbled over his words a few times, Siegel was more concerned about the president’s apparent ‘lack of emotion.’

‘It is a very emotional time for him and he isn’t showing it,’ the doctor told Fox News Digital after the speech. ‘He seems to lack conviction.’

Siegel expressed concern that Biden ‘could be depressed and shocked by the current reality.’

‘I feel compassion for him,’ Siegel went on. ‘How can he quote from the Declaration [of Independence] without much conviction? I feel bad for him and for us.’

‘It is a very emotional time for him and he isn’t showing it.’

Dr. Robert Lufkin, a California-based physician and medical school professor at UCLA and USC, also weighed in on Biden.

Lufkin noted that he has never examined Biden, but offered his observations based on Wednesday’s speech and recent media events.

In previous appearances, Biden has shown signs of ‘cognitive deterioration,’ the doctor told Fox News Digital.

‘The findings in his previous presentations could have a variety of causes, including sleep deprivation, sedation, metabolic abnormalities or even neurodegenerative diseases.’

Tonight’s short presentation appeared to be read from a teleprompter, Lufkin agreed — ‘which is less demanding than the more spontaneous Q&A debate format of some of his previous events.’

In previous appearances, such as the June 27 debate, Biden has shown ‘confused rambling, sudden loss of train of thought in the middle of a sentence, halting speech, and the repeated use of the word ‘anyway’ when lost in a sentence,’ Lufkin noted.

‘Tonight, we did not see these in his presentation,’ he said. ‘His delivery was fairly uniform without interruptions.’

The fact that these findings were less apparent tonight could be due to the speech format of the presentation and use of a teleprompter, according to Lufkin.

‘That format is much less challenging and less likely to uncover pathology than a more rigorous Q&A exchange or debate format,’ he went on.

He said he hoped that ‘continued interactions with Mr. Biden in various presentation formats will allow us to understand his situation in more detail.’

Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, said the speech from the Oval Office was ‘clearly better’ for Biden than the debate, but also noted that the president struggled at times with reading from the teleprompter. 

Murray has not treated or examined Biden.

‘Reading simple passages do become difficult in patients with dementia,’ he told Fox News Digital, expressing a professional opinion in general about such cases. 

The president struggled at times with reading from the teleprompter. 

‘Patients with a dementing process have significant difficulties with multitasking,’ said Murray, again speaking generally.

‘President Biden seemed more rested and relaxed tonight,’ Murray said. 

‘I suspect the stress of trying to run for office and be president was leading to even worse daily cognitive performance,’ he also said. 

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In response to earlier outreach from Fox News Digital, the White House press office said that ‘health was not a factor’ in the president’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 race. 

‘He looks forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the American people,’ the White House said in its statement. 

The fight to avoid a government shutdown is again bringing out the fault lines within the House GOP’s razor-thin majority.

House Republican leaders sought to avoid another messy, drawn-out battle over federal funding this year by rolling out an ambitious schedule to pass all 12 individual appropriations bills before the annual August recess.

That effort has been all but derailed. Rank-and-file Republicans are frustrated GOP rebels are pushing for politically unpopular votes on measures that would likely not be in the final bills after compromising with the Democratic-held Senate.

Some GOP lawmakers are accusing the rebels of ‘political masturbation,’ while the rebels blast the ‘terrible process’ lawmakers have followed for years.

‘Many of the appropriators are not excited about seeing some of these amendments being voted on. So, they vote against the amendments, and they get upset with those people when they don’t vote for the full appropriations bill. So, everybody’s mad,’ one House Republican granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital.

A second House Republican said, ‘Most of them I do philosophically agree with, so it’s not that it’s tough. It’s that they’re unnecessary. We know they’re not going anywhere.’

‘If you bring an amendment up that … makes me feel good … but it’s literally not going to pass a markup, or it’s not going to allow the bill to pass on the floor because the moderates are not going to like it, it’s just political masturbation at that point. So, what are we doing?’ the second GOP lawmaker said.

‘The rest of us can have that impact, too. We choose not to because we’re trying to get these bills passed. We’re actually trying to do our jobs here.’

GOP leaders had aimed to pass a bill funding the Justice and Commerce departments this week. But after it passed through committee absent an amendment defunding prosecutions against former President Trump — and was bashed by the ex-president — lawmakers have yet to see it get a House-wide vote.

On Tuesday evening, the Energy and Water appropriations bill was abruptly pulled from the House floor schedule amid worries about it passing.

‘What we’re sick of is not passing the most conservative bills that we can get to be able to even start the negotiation,’ Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. ‘What a lot of people are upset about is trying to find a bill and vote on it on the House side that will pass the Senate. And … the conservative people in our party are wanting bills that represent the conservative principles of the Republican Party as a starting point.’

House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., said, ‘They should be bringing these things out to the floor. They should be openly debated, discussed — and amendments proposed out there on the floor in front of all 435 members and, in the end, the American people — and that’s not what’s being done, and that’s why we have this terrible process.’

It’s all but certain that Congress will have to pass a short-term extension of this year’s funding, known as a continuing resolution (CR), something that fiscal hawks who voted against last year’s funding packages will likely oppose.

Punting government funding into the new year or even into December will mean the next steps are largely dependent on who wins the presidential election.

‘I’m disappointed that we have not been able to find a consensus to pass all the appropriations bills before the August recess. I hope we can do that in September. I think members have to be realistic about what their goals and objectives are for a CR until after the election,’ said Rep. French Hill, R-Ark.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., confirmed to reporters that a short-term bill would be necessary to avoid a partial government shutdown.

‘I’ve always said we’d have to do a CR,’ Cole said. ‘And then whoever wins the election will make the decision. Do you want a deal by the end of the year or do you want to kick them to the next Congress? I hope, my advice to whoever wins, would be do it by the end of the year.’ 

A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital, ‘The House has made significant progress in advancing FY25 appropriations bills. The House Appropriations Committee has diligently moved all 12 bills out of committee, and the House has passed 75% of government funding for the upcoming fiscal year while the Senate has yet to even consider a single appropriations bill. The House will continue its successful effort to responsibly fund the government for FY25 when it returns from its district work period.’