--- title: Exclusive: Why Clyburn Is Stepping Down From House Leadership description: Clyburn is ending his role in House leadership in part so he can take a bigger role in Joe Biden's campaign, two sources tell TIME canonical: https://time.com/6695533/jim-clyburn-joe-biden-campaign/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-02-15T21:08:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T12:16:27.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Clyburn Left House Leadership For Role in Biden Campaign og:description: Clyburn is ending his role in House leadership in part so he can take a bigger role in Joe Biden's campaign, two sources tell TIME og:url: https://time.com/6695533/jim-clyburn-joe-biden-campaign/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4197a774bb5adfb4/698a4898457a523b5bd68d43/GettyImages-1973660469.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-POLITICS-HARRIS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Clyburn Left House Leadership For Role in Biden Campaign twitter:description: Clyburn is ending his role in House leadership in part so he can take a bigger role in Joe Biden's campaign, two sources tell TIME twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4197a774bb5adfb4/698a4898457a523b5bd68d43/GettyImages-1973660469.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jim Clyburn Left House Leadership to Step Up Role in Biden Campaign > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7971f0ff-9add-4d52-be1a-498502d8cee5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 12:16 PM UTCPublished: Feb 15, 2024 9:08 PM UTC  Rep. James Clyburn speaks at South Carolina State University during a Biden campaign event in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on Feb. 2, 2024. Rep. James Clyburn speaks at South Carolina State University during a Biden campaign event in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on Feb. 2, 2024. Jim Watson —AFP via Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 12:16 PM UTCPublished: Feb 15, 2024 9:08 PM UTC Rep. Jim Clyburn stepped down Wednesday from his position in House leadership in part to spend more time working on Biden’s reelection campaign, according to two people familiar with his decision. The 83-year-old Democratic icon announced on Wednesday that he had informed House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries that he was stepping down from his position as Assistant Democratic Leader of the House Democratic Caucus, but that he would still run for re-election in his South Carolina House district. Clyburn, who remains a political force in his home state, was instrumental in helping Biden secure the Democratic nomination in South Carolina four years ago. While he had already been working as a Biden surrogate, Clyburn is expected to play a more active role in the President's reelection campaign, as a voice with deep experience understanding Biden’s coalition and how to reach Black voters, said the person familiar with the decision. Clyburn is also likely to travel to key states to talk to voters for Biden’s campaign. "The intent is, as Clyburn transitions from his role in the House \[leadership\], he will focus more of his time and attention towards the reelection campaign—which means being an even more visible surrogate, also being an additional validator for both the President and his agenda and the reelection campaign and continuing to give counsel and advice as needed." says Antjuan Seawright, Clyburn’s political advisor. “And more importantly, he intends to continue to be a true friend and day-one ally of Joe Biden.” Clyburn has been vocal about how Biden needs to confront his low poll numbers by talking more effectively about what he’s accomplished in office. He caused waves in early January when he publicly critiqued the Biden administration for not doing enough to reach voters supportive of Donald Trump. “I have no problem with the Biden administration and what it has done. My problem is we have not been able to break through that MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this president has done,” Clyburn said on CNN. Biden has recently added close advisors to the senior ranks of his campaign. Last month, he tapped senior White House officials Jen O’Malley Dillon, who ran his 2020 campaign, and Mike Donilon, a longtime speechwriter and interpreter of Biden’s political instincts, to work in his campaign under campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. O’Malley Dillon is focused on how Biden can win the electoral map and Donilon is working on campaign messaging and advertising. Clyburn is expected to be especially helpful with shoring up support for Biden with Black voters, a group with which the Democratic Party has lost ground, according to an analysis by Gallup released on Feb. 7\. While Democrats still have a large lead over Republicans among Black voters, [Gallup ](https://news.gallup.com/poll/609776/democrats-lose-ground-black-hispanic-adults.aspx)found an 11% decrease in Black adults who consider themselves Democrats since 2020, and an 8% increase in Black voters who are Republicans. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6695533/jim-clyburn-joe-biden-campaign/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6695533/jim-clyburn-joe-biden-campaign/"},"headline":"Jim Clyburn Left House Leadership to Step Up Role in Biden Campaign","datePublished":"2024-02-15T21:08:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-19T12:16:27.000Z","description":"Clyburn intends to take a more active role in Biden’s reelection campaign.","url":"https://time.com/6695533/jim-clyburn-joe-biden-campaign/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4197a774bb5adfb4/698a4898457a523b5bd68d43/GettyImages-1973660469.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Brian Bennett","jobTitle":"Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4197a774bb5adfb4/698a4898457a523b5bd68d43/GettyImages-1973660469.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-VOTE-POLITICS-HARRIS","caption":"US-VOTE-POLITICS-HARRIS","creditText":"Jim Watson —AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6695533/jim-clyburn-joe-biden-campaign/","name":"Jim Clyburn Left House Leadership to Step Up Role in Biden Campaign"}}]}] ```