DNC says Biden nomination won't be fast tracked, buys time for skeptics

• The Democratic National Committee said that its virtual roll call process to officially nominate President Biden will begin no earlier than Aug. 1, though the party said it will end before the Democratic convention starts on Aug. 19.
• The decision rules out the possibility that a process designed to quickly nominate Biden would begin as soon as next week, which some Biden allies had pushed for.
• It also buys more time for Democrats on Capitol Hill to come together, as many Democratic lawmakers privately hope they will, and ask Biden to step down from the ticket.

The Democratic National Committee said that any virtual roll call to officially nominate President Joe Biden as the party's presidential nominee will not begin before Aug. 1, according to a Wednesday letter sent to delegates and obtained by NBC News.

The decision rules out the possibility that a process designed to quickly nominate Biden would begin as soon as next week, which some Biden allies had pushed for.

It also buys more time for Democrats on Capitol Hill to come together and ask Biden to step down from the ticket, as many Democratic lawmakers privately hope they will.

The House and Senate are out of town this week, but return to Washington the week of July 22.

"No matter what may be reported, our goal is not to fast-track," wrote Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Bishop Leah Daughtry, co-chairs of the DNC's rules committee. "None of this will be rushed. Unlike our nation's other major political party, our rules are set in public meetings, anchored in the Party's charter and its traditions."

While the nomination process will not start before August, Walz and Daughtry noted, it will end before the in-person Democratic convention starts on Aug. 19. Democrats