Former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee have officially forged a joint fundraising agreement as they look to build on their recent fundraising success in taking on President Donald Trump.
A DNC official told CNBC on Friday the joint committee will be called the "Biden Victory Fund" and will allow donors to give $360,600 directly to the new operation.
Of that maximum sum, however, just $5,600 would go directly to the Biden campaign. The rest will go to the DNC, this official said. It shows that Democratic leaders are looking beyond the race for the White House and are planning to spend big on House, Senate and other down-ballot races.
CNBC first reported on the discussions taking place between Biden and the DNC shortly after Sen. Bernie Sanders, then the last remaining primary opponent for Biden, dropped out of the race.
The decision to join forces comes after the Biden campaign and the DNC had their best month of campaign fundraising of the election cycle in March, as campaigns were forced off the trail and into the virtual realm by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Biden campaign raked in just over $46 million last month and the DNC raised $32 million. The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and their joint fundraising committees combined to raise $63 million over that same time period.
Still, Trump and the RNC have over $240 million on hand going into April. They have had years to build their reelection juggernaut. Their early efforts make this agreement even more important for Biden's campaign and the DNC's goal of overtaking their Republican opponents across the country.
The DNC is transitioning to new leadership in the wake of the fundraising agreement.
Seema Nanda, the DNC's CEO, is being replaced by Mary Beth Cahill, a former campaign manager for John Kerry's run for president in 2004. Kerry is a surrogate for Biden's campaign.
"As we gear up and build out our operation for the next six months, Mary Beth's experience running presidential campaigns and managing the kind of complex operation it takes to win a general election will be invaluable and I am thrilled to have her as a partner in this fight," Jen O'Malley Dillon, Biden's campaign manager, said in a statement.
Cahill praised the joint fundraising agreement, saying this only helps them in their push to beat Trump in November.
"Our goal is to ensure that we put Joe Biden in the best position possible to beat Donald Trump, and this joint fundraising agreement allows us to do just that," she said in a statement. "Americans are hungry for new leadership in the White House and are uniting around our nominee."
