Amid Limbo Over Biden, 'Super Friends Are Assembling'

A day after President Biden's closely watched news conference—one in which he did well enough to embolden supporters but made enough flubs to embolden critics—where do things stand? Without much resolution. Coverage:

• Big meeting: Biden met with Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House Thursday night, after the press conference, reports the Hill. "I directly expressed the full breadth of insight [and] heartfelt perspectives" of worried Democrats, Jeffries wrote in a letter to colleagues. Read it in full here.
• No endorsement: Jeffries—along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer—is seen as crucial to Biden's chances of survival. Jeffries didn't reveal whether he personally asked the president to withdraw, but CNN reports that he didn't offer his endorsement to stay in the race, either.

• Back channels: The Hill reports that Nancy Pelosi is "working furiously" behind the scenes to pressure Biden to withdraw, and the Politico Playbook has this nugget from an unnamed House Democrat: "The Super Friends are assembling. There's a group of people who are going to go make their case to whomever they can get to at the White House that he needs to step aside and we're going to get our asses kicked if he doesn't."
• Still fighting: In a clear sign that Biden still has no intention of dropping out, Politico reports that he was meeting with three key groups on Friday: the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the centrist New Democrat Coalition.
• The count: As of Friday afternoon, Axios reports that 20 Democratic members of Congress had called for Biden to leave the race (including some who joined the list after the president's news conference). The outlet has a running list.
• Frozen funds: The New York Times reports that wealthy Democratic donors are withholding $90 million in pledged donations to the biggest super PAC supporting Biden's candidacy, Future Forward. The donors say they won't make the contributions if Biden is the nominee.

(More President Biden stories.)