Former President Joe Biden will be holding a holiday reception in Washington later this month, the first event tied to a future presidential library, the New York Times reported.
The Monday, Dec. 15 event is not a fundraiser for Biden's library foundation but a meet and greet that will include the former president, former first lady Jill Biden, and former cabinet officials and ambassadors, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Times.
The event is being hosted by Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a prominent Democrat donor who previously served as ambassador to Portugal under President Bill Clinton and ambassador to Brazil under Biden.
Plans for Biden's library have gotten off to a slow start and donors are worried he will struggle to raise money to fund a project that could swell into the hundreds of millions of dollars, the Times reported.
In September, Biden announced his plans to build his presidential library in Delaware, the state he represented in the Senate for many years, and has tapped a group of former aides, friends, and political allies to begin the heavy lift of fundraising and finding a site for the museum and archive.
The Bidens also announced a 13-person governance board charged with steering the project, which includes former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and longtime adviser Steve Ricchetti.
President Donald Trump's library has said it expects to raise more than $900 million.
George W. Bush's team met its $500 million fundraising goal before the library was dedicated while the Obama Foundation set a whopping $1.6 billion fundraising goal for its presidential center, which is set to open next year.
Biden's library team has said that the cost of the project would probably "end up somewhere in the middle" of the Obama Presidential Center and the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which raised $43 million.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sam Barron ✉
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