Washington, D.C. — The Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has released a report titled “The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House” (Oct. 28, 2025), alleging that senior White House officials concealed President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and may have executed unauthorized executive actions using the presidential autopen.
The report, prepared by committee staff under Chairman James Comer, claims that “White House staff abused the autopen and a lax chain-of-command policy to effect executive actions that lack any documentation of whether they were in fact authorized.” It further asserts that aides within Biden’s “inner circle” intentionally misled the public about his mental and physical health, describing a “cover-up of the president’s cognitive decline.”
According to the committee, its investigation found that “senior Biden White House officials possibly exercised the authority of the former president or intentionally concealed President Biden’s rapidly worsening mental and physical state.” The report cites testimony from aides and the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who it says “refused to answer questions about President Biden’s cognitive health.” The committee urged the D.C. Board of Medicine to review Dr. O’Connor’s conduct and asked the Department of Justice to investigate all executive actions attributed to Biden.
The report also alleges that the autopen — a mechanical signature device used by modern presidents — was misused to authorize clemency actions, pardons, and other executive measures without sufficient proof of the president’s direct involvement. It highlights that Biden “granted 4,245 acts of clemency, far exceeding the previous record of 3,796 held by Franklin D. Roosevelt,” and that 32 of 51 clemency warrants bore an autopen signature.
The committee’s findings state that the White House’s documentation and approval process was “inconsistent, poorly documented, and vulnerable to abuse,” and that aides — including Chief of Staff Jeff Zients — discussed pardon decisions involving Biden family members and former officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley.
In its conclusion, the Oversight Committee report asserts: “Faced with the cognitive decline of President Joe Biden, White House aides—at the direction of the inner circle—hid the truth about the former president’s condition and fitness for office.” It further declares that executive actions carried out through the autopen “should be considered void” unless proven to have been directly authorized by Biden.
Democratic members of the Oversight Committee have dismissed the investigation as politically motivated, and as of this report’s release, the White House has not publicly responded.
(Source: U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, “The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House,” Oct. 28, 2025.)
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