Neera Tanden reveals she had authority to wield Biden’s auto pen

Tanden, who served as the Biden administration's director of the White House Domestic Policy Council as well as staff secretary, said during her opening remarks that she “was responsible for handling the flow of documents to and from the president," per the Washington Examiner.

“As staff secretary, I was responsible for handling the flow of documents to and from the president,” she told the committee. “I was also authorized to direct that autopen signatures be affixed to certain categories of documents. We had a system for authorizing the use of the autopen that I inherited from prior administrations. We employed that system throughout my tenure as staff secretary.”

She testified that between October 2021 and May 2023, she was authorized to direct who used the autopen when she served on the White House staff. After May 2023, she was not in charge of authorizing the use of the autopen. Tanden answered the Oversight Committee's questions, but did not immediately speak to the press on Tuesday morning.

When she was pressed by reporters on the topic later in the day on if there was a cover-up of Biden's mental decline during his presidency, she answered, "Absolutely not." Other witnesses, including former first lady Jill Biden, will be answering to the committee later this week.

She claimed during her appearance, “I had no experience in the White House that would provide any reason to question [Biden’s] command as president."

The Oversight Committee is scheduled to have interviews with former Biden aides Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams. Additionally, the committee is seeking to interview Biden's former chief of staff Ron Klain as well as Anita Dunn as part of the investigation. On July 9, Biden's longtime doctor, Kevin O'Connor, will appear for a deposition.

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) told the outlet, “I always prefer the transcribed interview/deposition, as opposed to a committee hearing. So much more substantive."

“This is the first of what will be many interviews with people that we believe were involved in the autopen scandal in the Biden administration,” Comer added. “I think the American people want to know. I think there’s a huge level of curiosity in the press corps with respect to who was actually calling the shots in the Biden administration.”