Vice President Kamala Harris is first in line to control of the tens of millions of dollars in President Joe Biden's campaign coffers if he decides to drop out of the 2024 race for the White House, according to his campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, but experts say that will depend on whether she becomes the Democratic Party's nominee.
She stressed during a call between campaign donors and aides that he doesn't intend to go anywhere. But if he does, Harris would take control of most of the account's funds, which totaled $91.2 million as of the end of May, reported NBC News.
There is some confusion among campaign finance experts about whether Harris will gain access to the money if she remains a vice presential nominee if another person is picked to replace Biden on the ticket, though.
"This has this unique twist to it with Harris still being a part of the campaign and being considered part of the campaign from the get-go," said Kenneth Gross, a senior political law counsel at Akin Gump and former associate general counsel for the Federal Election Commission.
Harris, as Biden's running mate, is listed on the FEC filings for his candidacy statement and on the campaign account's statement of organization, NBC reported Monday, which means if she continues with the campaign she would be able to use the money.
She'd also be able to use Biden's campaign committee, as she is the candidate for vice president.
This means, Gross said, that since both names are on the account, Harris would be the "only one" who could use the Biden war chest if she runs for president instead of him.
According to the Campaign Legal Center, however, Harris can access the money in the Biden campaign account if she succeeds him as the presidential nominee. If the party picks a different nominee and she remains the party's pick for vice president, it would mean it would become a different campaign, the center said.
Former FEC litigation attorney Claire Rajan agreed that Harris could access funds as the presidential nominee, but not as the running mate for another person.
The Campaign Legal Center's finance team said that if Harris doesn't become the nominee, the campaign money could be used in a political action committee, but a PAC is only able to make a maximum donation of $3,300 per election to other candidates.
The campaign also has the option of refunding contributions to the donors, who then could donate money to a new candidate.
Gross and Rajan added that the funds could also be transferred to a charity, a super PAC, or the Democratic National Committee.
Meanwhile, Biden's campaign worked on Monday to reassure fundraisers that his debate performance won't end his candidacy and that he can recover from it, NBC News reported Tuesday, quoting a recording of a conference call that was made by one of the participants.
In the call, senior campaign officials conceded that Biden missed an opportunity in the debate but said people watching it also had doubts about former President Donald Trump.
Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, Biden's campaign chair, also told donors that Biden has received several physicals, and in February was deemed "fit for duty" but with some chronic ailments.
She insisted that Biden, 81, is "probably in better health than most of us."
"He knows that he has to prove that he can do this job from a stamina standpoint, but also from substance," O'Malley Dillon said.