Amid all of the talk about Democratic donors, lawmakers, and pundits pressuring President Joe Biden to end his candidacy for re-election following his disastrous debate performance is the unanswered question of what will happen with all of the funds raised in support of his campaign if he does drop out of the race.

That is a tricky question because while Biden's campaign reportedly has access to around $240 million with more than $90 million cash on hand, some of that money originated with and is controlled by others and not the campaign, while federal law dictates how and where some of those funds can be spent, according to USA Today.

Following the Biden campaign money trail indicates that, should he ultimately cease to be the presumptive Democratic nominee, his eventual replacement will not have access to the entire campaign war chest and will instead be scrambling to make up the difference ahead of the rapidly approaching election.

Where is the Biden campaign's money and where will it go?

Of the reported $240 million Team Biden-Harris can access through various groups and PACs, about $92 million is under the direct control of the official Biden for President campaign committee as of the end of May.

Since Vice President Kamala Harris' name is on the committee's foundational documents, she -- but only she -- would have full access to those funds if Biden dropped out and she was elevated to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Another $65 million is under the control of the Democratic National Committee, and while that money is nominally earmarked for the Biden campaign, it would undoubtedly flow to whoever ended up replacing the incumbent if he ended his re-election bid.

There is another roughly $62 million spread among three joint fundraising committees that support the Biden campaign -- the Biden Victory Fund with $41.1 million, the Biden Action Fund with $19.4 million, and the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund with $1.6 million, as of the end of March -- and while those funds are also only authorized to support Biden, federal law allows for the committees to file paperwork to reallocate where those funds go.

Finally, the main super PAC supporting Biden, Future Forward, reportedly had around $92 million in cash at the end of May, and because of federal laws that separate super PACs from campaigns, only that super PAC and others like it can dictate how and where that money is spent -- including supporting a replacement nominee, transferring to other organizations or candidates in other races, or refunding contributions back to donors.

"The money has absolutely shut off"

Meanwhile, if President Biden insists on remaining in the race, as he has done thus far, an NBC News report indicated that he may not have much more than that reported $240 million to work with ahead of the election as donations to his campaign have fallen off dramatically since the debacle of a debate two weeks ago.

"It’s already disastrous," one unnamed source close to the campaign said of the precipitous decline in fundraising while another anonymous source told the outlet, "The money has absolutely shut off."

The sources revealed that this month's fundraising was likely reduced by half, if not "much more," in comparison to expectations, and that includes contributions from large and small donors alike -- a claim that was flatly denied, albeit without specifics to the contrary, by a spokesperson for the Biden campaign.

Biden losing badly in the polls

Part of the problem here, according to the NBC News report, is not just the undeniable revelation during the debate of President Biden's diminished cognitive abilities but also the growing concern among donors that he will not be able to defeat former President Donald Trump and that he and his campaign are out of touch with reality by claiming so confidently -- and incorrectly -- that he is ahead in the polls and on track toward victory.

Indeed, some donors allegedly said Biden acted "Trumpian" in his recent interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos when, among numerous other dubious assertions, the president falsely claimed that he wasn't really trailing Trump in the polls and that the pollsters who showed him behind in the race were wrong.

In reality, the RealClearPolling average of polls shows Biden is tied with or trailing Trump in all of the major polls -- which tend to underestimate Trump's support -- that Trump has an average lead of three points -- Biden was ahead by nine points at this same stage of the 2020 race in comparison -- and that Trump maintains comfortable margins in all of the most important swing states that typically decide presidential elections.