Warner is working to convene Democratic senators to discuss Biden’s future

Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, wants to convene Democratic senators next week to discuss next steps after President Biden’s disastrous debate performance and their concerns about him remaining as the nominee, according to five people with direct knowledge of the initiative.

Mr. Warner’s push reflects a growing sense of panic among some Senate Democrats about Mr. Biden’s ability to continue in the presidential race, and a growing frustration among senators that the president and those around him have not communicated directly with them about how they plan to address such concerns.

The people requested anonymity to discuss Mr. Warner’s efforts, and a spokeswoman for the senator did not respond to requests for comment. His outreach efforts were previously reported by The Washington Post.

While some House Democrats were outspoken in their harsh assessments of Biden’s performance last week — and three of them called on him to end his candidacy — most senators have so far been quieter about their concerns.

Mr. Warner, a centrist former governor who himself considered a presidential bid in 2008, has reached out to colleagues since the night of last week’s debate to express concerns about Mr. Biden’s performance and a sense of urgency for Democrats to figure out what to do about it. As chairman of the Intelligence Committee, he is a trusted voice in the Senate and has built a reputation for bipartisanship.

While he expressed dismay about the situation in his conversations with Democratic senators, Mr. Warner, according to a person who spoke with him on Friday, was not trying to convince the president to withdraw from the race but rather to spark a discussion about the right way to proceed.

Mr. Biden told reporters on Friday that he had spoken to at least 20 members of Congress and “they are telling me I should stay in the race.”

When a reporter said that Mr. Warner was trying to get him to step aside, Mr. Biden replied that the senator “was the only one who considered that. Nobody else asked me to do that.”

Democratic Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts all called on him to do so this week.

The senators return to Washington on Monday after a week-long recess.

Lucas Broadwater And Carl Hulse contributed to the reporting.