Presumptive nominee Joe Biden has indicated he would like to see some sort of convention. | Matt Rourke, File/AP Photo
The host committee for the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee announced Thursday that it cut its staff by more than half, raising further doubts about the convention taking place as previously planned because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to support the employees who are transitioning as the Host Committee makes adjustments to continue their important work in light of this unprecedented global pandemic,” Joe Solmonese, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC), said in a statement.
Only 14 of the committee’s 31 employees will remain on staff. Six have been fired and will receive health care coverage through August, according to the host committee. The other 11 people have been offered jobs as organizers for the party or with the DNCC, which is the other committee that handles the convention planning. The Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee was tasked with fundraising, community engagement, city-focused events, and locking down venues, while the DNCC is responsible for the operation of the convention itself.
Leading Democrats have been increasingly skeptical that the Democratic Party will be able to have a traditional convention this year, after postponing the event from mid-July to mid-August in the hopes that the coronavirus crisis may have eased by then.
Terry McAuliffe, the former Virginia governor and DNC chairman, said Wednesday “it’s possible we have a convention,” but he added: “I personally think it’s probably most unlikely that we have one.”
Presumptive nominee Joe Biden has indicated he would like to see some sort of convention, noting that the country has continued the tradition even during past crises.
“We ought to be able to do, we were able to do in the middle of a Civil War all the way through to World War II, have Democratic and Republican conventions and primaries and elections and still have public safety,” Biden told MSNBC on March 31. “And we’re able to do both. But the fact is it may have to be different.”
The Republican National Committee said that it has not cut staff and is still going full steam ahead on GOP convention planning. Their convention is set to begin August 24 in Charlotte, the week after the Democrats’ event.
Layoffs hit Democratic convention host committee
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