Trump administration clears ex-Biden aide for testimony on former president’s mental state

The Trump White House has just dropped a bombshell by refusing to shield a former Biden aide from testifying about the President’s mental fitness.

In a stunning move, the White House counsel has ruled that Neera Tanden, once a senior adviser to Joe Biden, must offer unrestricted testimony to the GOP-led House Oversight Committee regarding Biden’s cognitive state and his reliance on an autopen for executive actions, as the New York Post reports.

This decision comes as part of a broader Republican investigation into whether Biden’s mental acuity has impacted the legitimacy of his orders, pulling several former administration officials into the spotlight for questioning.

Unpacking Trump’s executive privilege move

“After balancing the Legislative and Executive Branch interests… this presents an exceptional situation,” said Gary Lawkowski, deputy White House counsel, justifying the call to let Tanden testify freely.

Well, isn’t that a polite way to say the gloves are off? The Trump administration seems to be signaling that congressional oversight trumps — pardon the pun — any executive secrecy when the stakes are this high.

Tanden, who served Biden from 2021 to 2023, initially faced a rocky path when her nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget fizzled out due to bipartisan pushback over her sharp-edged social media history, as noted by then-Sen. Joe Manchin.

Tanden’s role, testimony

Biden pivoted, appointing Tanden as director of the Domestic Policy Council, where she advised on major policy matters — yet, during her recent five-hour closed-door session with the Oversight Committee, she claimed minimal direct interaction with the president.

Curiously, Tanden admitted to sending decision memos that led to autopen approvals but couldn’t shed light on how Biden’s inner circle vetted those orders. Sounds like someone was out of the loop — or is that just convenient memory fog?

A source close to the interview revealed Tanden couldn’t recall a single discussion about Biden’s health or mental sharpness with key administration figures since 2023, raising more questions than answers about what was really going on behind closed doors.

Broader investigation persists

The Oversight Committee isn’t stopping with Tanden; they’ve got a lineup of former Biden aides like Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams, and Annie Tomasini queued up for testimony, with Bernal — once chief of staff to Jill Biden — expected to appear on Thursday.

Even Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s former White House physician, is slated to face questions on July 9, as the GOP digs deeper into the President’s condition during his tenure.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is running parallel probes into Biden’s use of an autopen, with Trump himself directing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch an inquiry into the matter earlier this month.

Historical context and ongoing scrutiny

Let’s not forget the irony here — executive privilege was a go-to defense for Trump-era figures like Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, who faced contempt charges for dodging congressional subpoenas, yet now it’s being waved away for Biden’s team.

Tanden herself seemed unfazed by the process, stating, “I answered every question… it was a thorough process.” But with such limited insight offered, one has to wonder if thoroughness will be enough to satisfy the committee’s appetite for clarity.

Biden, for his part, has pushed back hard, declaring, “I made the decisions… any suggestion otherwise is ridiculous.” But with testimony piling up, one wonders if those words will hold under the weight of scrutiny — or if this autopen saga will sign a very different story.