A top former aide to former President Joe Biden testified behind closed doors Tuesday as part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into his mental fitness to serve and his White House’s use of an autopen, confirming she was authorized to use the automatic signature device while pushing back on concerns about alleged manipulation or malfeasance.
Neera Tanden, who served as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, explained in her opening remarks Tuesday that she was given authority to wield the autopen. She said she “was responsible for handling the flow of documents to and from the president” and was authorized to direct autopen use from October 2021 to May 2023 when she was serving as staff secretary and senior advisor to Biden.
Tanden entered the committee’s Capitol Hill office building at 9:46 a.m. and did not respond to questions from reporters.
She is the first of a slate of witnesses set to appear this week, including Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to former first lady Jill Biden, who is scheduled to meet with investigators on Thursday.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday morning that the committee wants answers about “who was calling the shots” during Biden’s final two years in office, and why the president’s signature was increasingly replaced by the use of an autopen to sign certain executive orders even on days while he was physically present at the White House.
