As the dust settles on one of the most tumultuous periods in recent American political history, the investigation into President Joe Biden’s mental acuity and the actions of his inner circle continues to unfold. In the aftermath of Biden’s decision not to seek a second term, questions linger about what senior Democrats knew, when they knew it, and whether the American public was misled about the president’s capacity to govern.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as of August 17, 2025, is deep into its probe of President Biden’s apparent mental decline during his presidency. The inquiry also seeks to determine his awareness of major presidential actions, including the use of the White House autopen to sign off on clemency decisions. According to The Daily Signal, the committee is set to resume a series of transcribed interviews with key former White House officials in the coming weeks. Among those scheduled to testify are Karine Jean-Pierre, the former White House press secretary, and Jeff Zients, Biden’s second chief of staff, who will appear on September 12 and September 18, respectively. Ian Sams, a former senior adviser to the White House Counsel’s Office, and Andrew Bates, a former deputy press secretary, are also slated for questioning.
The investigation has already seen a mix of voluntary cooperation and legal resistance. Ten former Biden officials have answered committee questions, but three—White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, former senior adviser Anthony Bernal, and former deputy director Annie Tomasini—invoked the Fifth Amendment, declining to testify to avoid self-incrimination. Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told The Daily Signal, “Americans witnessed President Biden’s decline, yet Biden loyalists tried to cover it up.” Comer further asserted that the investigation is “unearthing crucial evidence that President Biden’s inner circle made calculated decisions to address the political fallout of his decline.”
Much of the public narrative about Biden’s decline was shaped by the book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. The book, widely cited in both the American and international press, paints a grim picture of a president whose physical and cognitive faculties diminished over his term, with those closest to him allegedly orchestrating a cover-up. According to the book, Biden’s so-called “politburo”—including First Lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden, and senior aides Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, and Bruce Reed—tightly controlled access to the president and shielded him from situations that might expose his decline.
These claims are echoed by testimony from within Biden’s own ranks. On July 24, 2024, Ron Klain, Biden’s first White House chief of staff, told the Oversight Committee that the president was “less energetic and more forgetful” as his term wore on. Klain also revealed that prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, had approached him with concerns about Biden’s viability as a candidate for 2024. Despite this, other insiders maintained a more positive view. Steve Ricchetti, White House counselor and manager of Biden’s 2020 campaign, insisted Biden was “capable of being president today” and could have won the 2024 election, even noting that filmmaker Steven Spielberg assisted Biden in preparing for the fateful June 2024 debate against Donald Trump.
That debate, held on June 27, 2024, proved to be a turning point. Biden’s performance was widely panned—his delivery was halting, his pauses long, and his gaze often distant. Within weeks, he announced from the Oval Office that he would not run for re-election. The fallout from that moment was immediate and severe. According to The Daily Signal, Mike Donilon, a senior adviser, admitted Biden “could stumble over more words than in earlier years,” though he criticized the Democratic Party’s reaction as overblown. Meanwhile, Bruce Reed, former deputy chief of staff, told the committee that Dr. O’Connor, the White House physician, dismissed the need for a cognitive test as “meaningless,” and that the timing of the June debate was a strategic move to get ahead of early voting and the media frenzy surrounding the Olympics.
Questions about Biden’s ability to sign important documents also surfaced. On June 24, 2024, Neera Tanden, then director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, admitted to authorizing the use of the autopen to sign documents on Biden’s behalf. She insisted that this did not usurp the president’s authority or manipulate his will, stating she was “responsible for handling the flow of documents to and from the president.” Ashley Williams, former deputy director of Oval Office Operations, claimed she “did not recall” whether Biden used teleprompters during Cabinet meetings or if she noticed signs of his decline.
Outside the White House, the signs of Biden’s struggles were increasingly obvious. In early 2024, special prosecutor Robert Hur concluded that Biden could not be prosecuted for mishandling classified documents from his vice presidency, describing him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” The line, though controversial, resonated with many who had watched Biden’s public appearances. As the book Original Sin and subsequent reporting highlight, by the second half of his presidency, Biden met with fewer people and relied on teleprompters even for informal events, further fueling speculation about his health.
The reluctance of senior Democrats to confront Biden about his decline stemmed from multiple factors. Some believed only Biden could beat Trump, given his 2020 victory. Others feared political backlash or being excluded from the president’s inner circle. Concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris’s electability also played a role; she was ultimately positioned as Biden’s replacement without a primary contest, partly to ensure African-American voter turnout in key districts. However, this lack of contest may have weakened her candidacy, as former President Barack Obama reportedly observed.
The consequences of the Democratic Party’s handling of the situation are likely to reverberate for years. As one columnist argued, “The Democratic Party told people—again and again—that there was nothing to see about the health and well-being of the President of the United States when it was really obvious that there was. That will hurt the next time the Democrats try to call something out, as the other side will say ‘hey, these are the guys who tried to tell you Joe Biden could run again.’”
For his part, Biden is remembered by many as a great president in his first term and a steadfast friend to Ireland and Ballina. Yet, the consensus among critics and some allies alike is that he should not have sought a second term. The ongoing congressional investigation and the broader public reckoning with how his decline was managed—and possibly concealed—will shape the legacy of his presidency and the fortunes of his party for years to come.
