Anita Dunn tells House Oversight she saw no cognitive decline in Biden
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Anita Dunn, a former senior White House communications adviser, testified to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that she did not observe cognitive decline in President Joe Biden during her service.
Anita Dunn, a former senior adviser to President Joe Biden, told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on June 24, 2025, that she did not observe Biden suffer cognitive decline while she worked for him. "I did not have concerns that the president was suffering from cognitive decline throughout the time I served in the White House," Dunn said during questioning by majority staff.
Dunn told the committee she worked for Biden as a senior adviser from January 2021 and again from May 2022 to August 2024, primarily on press and communications strategy. She said she saw the president "three or four times a week, sometimes more" and that he was "engaged on the substance, editing press statements and working with us to map out communication strategy." She added that staff regularly brought issues and decision memos to Biden and that he made the final decisions.
On whether White House staff ever made key decisions or exercised presidential powers without Biden's knowledge or authorization, Dunn replied, "I did not observe the White House staff making key decisions or exercising the powers of the presidency without president Biden's knowledge or consent." She described a formal decision process in which memos and a decision book were used, and said matters involving pardons were handled by the White House counsel's office while executive orders frequently flowed through Bruce Reed's team.
Dunn also addressed questions about how voters perceived Biden's age and competence, saying that polling showed age was a persistent issue for voters and that the campaign sought ways to address those perceptions. She emphasized she was not a medical professional and declined to speculate about causes of observed changes in the president's voice or the reappearance of a childhood stutter.
The witness acknowledged she had provided a written opening statement to the committee and reiterated in closing that, in her experience, Biden "made all of the important decisions expected of someone serving as the president of The United States."