Democrats boycotted a Senate hearing on Joe Biden’s fitness for office as Republicans intensified their push for answers about his health and the use of autopen signatures during his presidency.
The House Oversight Committee continued its probe into Biden’s cognitive decline, issuing a subpoena to a top aide to former First Lady Jill Biden after he declined to appear voluntarily. Despite leaving office in January, Biden remains under scrutiny following the release of audio from his interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur and a recent cancer diagnosis, both of which have raised serious concerns about decisions made in the final days of his presidency.
House Oversight Investigation into Mental Decline
Led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., the House Oversight Committee is examining whether Biden’s inner circle concealed his cognitive decline, potentially circumventing his authority by using autopen signatures on official documents.
Four key witnesses have agreed to transcribed interviews, including Neera Tanden, Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams, and Annie Tomasini. Tanden testified that although she had significant authority, she had “minimal interaction with Biden” and relied on others in his inner circle for autopen approvals. Comer remarked, “Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the president’s obvious decline.”
Bernal initially agreed to testify but later refused after executive privilege was waived, prompting Comer to issue a subpoena. Comer wrote to Bernal, “Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former first lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people.”
Comer also suggested Congress might need to consider changes to presidential fitness oversight under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.
Williams is scheduled to testify on July 11 and Tomasini on July 18.
Wider Outreach and Resistance
Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor also declined to testify and was subsequently subpoenaed. Comer has contacted five additional former aides, including Ron Klain, Anita Dunn, Michael Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, and Bruce Reed, bringing the total number of individuals contacted in the investigation to ten.
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution.” Experts included law professor John Harrison, Heritage Foundation fellow Theodore Wold, and former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
The Heritage Foundation had previously investigated the use of autopen signatures and found inconsistencies, including in Biden’s announcement withdrawing from the 2024 race.
Wold labeled the cover-up a “constitutional crisis.” Republican senators criticized Democrats for walking out of the hearing. Sen. John Cornyn remarked, “We must not turn away from the search for answers.”
Democratic Sens. Peter Welch and Dick Durbin briefly attended. Durbin exited after calling the hearing a distraction, citing other urgent matters such as the Minnesota assassination and the mass deportation campaign.
Justice Department Review of Pardons
In his final weeks, Biden issued more than 1,500 pardons and clemencies, the largest single-day action of its kind. The Justice Department is now reviewing these, with special attention to those signed by autopen, including controversial preemptive pardons for figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the January 6 committee.
Of all the pardons, Biden personally signed only one—his son Hunter’s.
Hunter Biden had been found guilty of federal gun and tax charges. Biden issued a blanket pardon covering alleged offenses from 2014 to 2024, stating: “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.”
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Further Oversight
In May, Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer with metastasis to the bone. Comer expanded the Oversight Committee’s investigation to include the timeline of Biden’s diagnosis, citing earlier remarks where Biden claimed, “I and so damn many other people I grew up (with) have cancer.”
Comer stated, “There’s evidence out there that would suggest that there’s been a cover-up with respect to his cancer for many years, just based on Joe Biden’s own words.”
The investigation continues, as Republicans press forward with efforts to determine the full scope of Biden’s cognitive and physical fitness while in office.
