WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is fundraising again.
The commander in chief plans to ramp up his election campaign after the White House suspended overt political activity during debt limit negotiations with Congress. That put his fledgling re-election campaign and the party a bit behind the ball eight with the end of the second quarter of fundraising on June 30.
In recent weeks, Republicans have dominated the 2024 election news – from former President Donald Trump turning indictments in New York and Miami into a rallying point for his base to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis touring the early states.
But Biden will hit the hustings — and the wallets of donors — harder over the next two weeks, according to a calendar of upcoming fundraising events provided to NBC News by a Democratic fundraising agent.
Biden’s re-election calendar has 20 fundraisers scheduled in the last half of June, most of which will be led by Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The plan has always been to really push an aggressive fundraising blitz toward the end of the quarter,” a campaign official said.
Biden’s still skeletal campaign apparatus has a joint fundraising agreement with the DNC and all state parties that are allowed to call on donors for more than the $3,300 contribution limit that governs the main committee of President’s campaign.
On June 26, for example, top donors will be asked to pay $100,000 to sponsor Harris’s headlining LGBTQ DNC Gala on New York’s Park Avenue – a prize that brings with it two “platinum” tables, Pass for a VIP reception and an invitation to the photo line. A single seat at dinner costs $1,500, and there are multiple donation thresholds between the upper and lower tiers that come with different levels of access.
The surge will certainly bring in millions of dollars to support Biden and his fellow Democrats, but it may not entirely allay concerns among allies who fear the debt limit freeze on political events will cause damage. and that too much emphasis was placed on filling the coffers of the DNC.
Some Biden loyalists have been particularly concerned about the lack of fundraising infrastructure for his official campaign cash. There is no financial director in place. And even though Biden summoned major donors to Washington when he announced his campaign in April, one longtime Democratic donor said he was “surprised” Biden hadn’t set up a finance committee. big money carriers.
This donor pointed out that contributors can give hundreds of thousands of dollars to the DNC and its state affiliates, while only $3,300 per donor per election — primary and general — can go to Biden within the funding limits of the federal campaign. That is, joint big-dollar fundraising events benefiting the DNC and the Biden campaign are orders of magnitude more lucrative for the party than the candidate.
At the same time, Biden has focused on rebuilding party infrastructure, and the DNC and its state counterparts can take on many tasks that have traditionally been handled by a campaign operation.
Biden was due to headline a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut on Friday before embarking on a cash-mining across California on June 19-20, which will include a reception with Governor Gavin Newsom in Marin County, according to the schedule provided to NBC News. Later in the month – June 28 – he is scheduled to appear with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker in Chicago.
In addition to New York, Harris plans to make stops in Potomac, Maryland, New Orleans, Dallas and Denver over the next two weeks. First lady Jill Biden and presidential sister Valerie Biden Owens also signed up to raise funds this month. Jill Biden is heading to Nashville and Minneapolis for events on June 24, and Owens is in the marquee for a fundraising event on June 28 in Wilmington, Del.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is also expected to fundraise, but details of his trip were not immediately available.
Biden’s return to the campaign trail isn’t limited to collecting checks. He plans to attend a Saturday rally in Philadelphia with the unions, several of which announced their support for him on Friday.
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com