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First Fox: Senate Republicans want to set the ultimate goal of former President Joe Biden’s use of the autopen by calling for more hearings, passing the law, amending the constitution to address “mentally incompetent presidents.”
Sen. Eric Schmidt, chairman of the Constitutional Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, is calling for special access to notes from a large group of notes recording Biden-era documents and use of automation under the Presidential Records Act.
In a letter to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a national publicist exclusively acquired by Fox News, Schmidt argued that creating a paper trail for the main directives that was made towards the end of the presidency would help “determine whether legislative relief is most appropriate.”
Top Biden has admitted to Congress, she ordered the autopen to sign without knowing who gave final approval.
Neela Tanden, former director of Biden’s National Policy Council, testified in locked-up rooms for more than five hours Tuesday as part of a House Republican investigation into the former president’s mental vision and the use of automated signing tools. (Getty Images)
“In particular, as the presidency progressed, the increase in the use of autopens to sign pardons, executive orders, and other documents has become a poignant symbol of President Biden’s mental decline, and has led to doubt about the effectiveness of those orders and pardons if President Biden did not direct the use of autopens,” he wrote.
Schmidt requested access to numerous documents, including notes on how to use the autopen. Using the autopen and emails from staff requested permission or request to use the autopen.
Senate hearing on who is “really running” begins Wednesday
R-Mo. Senator Eric Schmidt of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in Darksenville on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 (Getty Images)
He also requested access to all White House records since November 1, 2024. We prioritize briefing books, notes, and pardon decision notes. And ultimately accessing all White House records since November 1st.
“That information will position the subcommittee better to ensure that the proposed potential amendments are sufficiently inclusive to address the plausible contingencies regarding the mentally powerless president,” writes Schmidt.
“It would be challenging enough to amend the Constitution once, if all contingencies regarding the President’s incapacity are not properly considered, and then, if it turns out later.”
Schmidt’s letter is how the autopen played a central role in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on alleged mental decline during his inauguration of the Senate Judiciary Committee and his inimitable attempts to skirt the Constitution while continuing to perform his office duties.
Former white household officials testifying who “really runs the country” during the Biden era
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters late Monday, June 16, 2025, while on board the Air Force on his way from Calgary, Canada to a joint base in Andrews, Maryland (AP Photo/Mark Sieffelvein)
It also explicitly mentions the transcription hearing of the closing door with Neela Tanden, former director of Biden’s former National Policy Council, held by the House Oversight Committee this week.
Sources told Fox News Digital in a five-hour transcribed interview, Tanden testified that she had “minimal interaction with President Biden” in her role as staff secretary, and that she testified that she would send decision notes to members of Biden’s inner circle to obtain an autopen signature.
She said in the interview that she didn’t know what happened before the note was sent and approved and returned.
However, Tanden’s opening statement, shared with Fox News Digital by her lawyer, Michael Bromwich, said that as Chief of Staff, she was responsible for “processing the flow of documents with the President” and was given the authority to direct automatic signatures to “attach to documents in certain categories.”
“I had a system to approve the use of autopens that I inherited from previous administrations,” Tanden said. “We adopted that system as staff secretaries throughout my tenure.”
She was later appointed director of Biden’s National Policy Council, saying she was no longer responsible for the flow of documents and was no longer involved in decisions related to the autopen.
“It should be noted that much of the public debate on the subject of this hearing confusing two very different issues. The first is the age of the president and, secondly, whether President Bident is in charge of the president,” she said. “In the White House, I had no experience providing reasons to question his orders as president. He was in charge.”
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Schmidt requested that by July 16th access to Swass of Notes and Communications be granted.
“It is important for this subcommittee to have a clear grasp of President Biden’s decision-making capabilities at the end of the presidency and know the extent to which his inner circle robbed him of decision-making,” he wrote.
Liz Elkind of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital, which covers the US Senate.
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