A Senate Republican wants to build a paper trail of former President Joe Biden’s autopen usage with the end goal of calling more hearings, passing legislation or amending the Constitution to best address ‘a mentally incapacitated president.’

Sen. Eric Schmitt, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, is requesting special access under the Presidential Records Act to a trove of Biden-era documents and memos that chronicle his usage of an autopen.

In a letter to Secretary of State and Acting National Archivist Marco Rubio exclusively obtained by Fox News, Schmitt argued that creating a paper trail of key directives made toward the end of his presidency would help in ‘deciding which legislative remedy is most appropriate.’

‘In particular, the increased use of the autopen to sign pardons, executive orders, and other documents as his Presidency progressed became a poignant symbol of President Biden’s mental decline and has created questions about the validity of those orders and pardons if President Biden did not direct the use of the autopen,’ he wrote.

Schmitt requested access to a slew of documents, including memos about procedures for usage of the autopen, who was granted authority to use the autopen and emails from staff authorizing or requesting authorization for autopen usage.

He also requested access to all White House records after Nov. 1, 2024, that refer or relate to presidential pardons; that prioritize briefing books, memos and decision memos for pardons; and, eventually, access to all White House records after Nov. 1.

‘With that information, the subcommittee will be better positioned to ensure that any potential proposed amendment will be sufficiently comprehensive so as to address any plausible contingency concerning a mentally incapacitated President,’ Schmitt wrote. 

‘It would be challenging enough to amend the Constitution once — much less more than once if it then subsequently turned out not all contingencies around presidential incapacity were adequately considered.’

Schmitt’s letter comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Biden’s alleged mental decline while in office and how the autopen could have played a central role in his inner circle’s alleged attempt to skirt the Constitution while continuing to carry out the duties of the office.

It also explicitly mentions the closed-door, transcribed hearing with Biden’s former director of the Domestic Policy Council, Neera Tanden, conducted by the House Oversight Committee this week.

A source told Fox News Digital that during the transcribed interview, which lasted five hours, Tanden testified she had ‘minimal interaction with President Biden’ in her role as staff secretary and that to obtain autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of Biden’s inner circle.

She said during the interview she was not aware of what actions or approvals happened between the time the memo was sent out and returned with approval.

However, Tanden’s opening statement, shared with Fox News Digital by her lawyer, Michael Bromwich, said that, as staff secretary, she was responsible for ‘handling the flow of documents to and from the President’ and that she was 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,’ Tanden said. ‘We employed that system throughout my tenure as Staff Secretary.’

She was later named director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council and said she was no longer responsible for the flow of documents and was no longer involved in decisions related to the autopen. 

‘I would note that much of the public discussion on the subject matter of this hearing has conflated two very different issues: first, the president’s age and second, whether President Bident was in command as President,’ she said. ‘I had no experience in the White House that would provide any reason to question his command as President. He was in charge.’   

Schmitt requested that access to the swathe of memos and communications be granted no later than July 16.

‘It is important for this subcommittee to have a clear picture of President Biden’s decision-making capacity at the end of his presidency and to know the extent to which members of his inner circle possibly usurped the President’s decision-making authority,’ he wrote.

Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report. 

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., accused Trump Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children due to the budget cuts he has overseen under the Trump administration.

Vought faced a high-intensity grilling from both Democratic and GOP senators in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday over a package of proposed budget cuts – called a rescissions package – the administration sent to the legislative branch earlier this month.

Democratic committee members, as well as some Republicans, appeared very frustrated with the administration over the proposed cuts. At one point during the hearing, several protesters stood and began shouting, causing the proceedings to briefly come to a halt. It was unclear what the protesters were objecting to.

While Vought claimed that the administration’s cuts to USAID and PEPFAR have not halted lifesaving treatment, Merkley asserted that the claim is a ‘huge deception.’

According to Merkley, a Boston University School of Public Health study claims that some 246,000 children have died due to the various foreign aid programs cut by DOGE.

‘We are talking a quarter million children because of your irresponsible shutdown of programs that Congress had fully authorized, and you unconstitutionally shut down in partnership with Elon Musk and the Secretary of State,’ fired Merkley. ‘How do you feel about being responsible for hundreds of thousands of children dying because of your sudden interruption in these key programs?’

Vought soundly rejected the assertion, saying that every administration ‘has the ability to do a programmatic review when they come into office’ and to make changes based on ‘new spending priorities.’

Before he could finish, Merkley cut Vought off, saying, ‘I find your response both ignorant and callous.’

‘You chose to shut down programs in the middle that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of children dying in the last few months. I find that abhorrent, and few Americans have ever had such a devastating and disastrously impact,’ Merkley exclaimed.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also confronted Vought, accusing the administration of trying to illegally maneuver around Congress to make its cuts, which she said undermine American interests abroad.

‘Will you tell us specifically where, the Philippines, Pacific islands, Jordan, you’re planning to undermine American interests?’ she asked, to which Vought responded: ‘Of course not. We’ve been very clear in all the administration’s priorities that all of our commitments with regard to Jordan and Egypt are maintained.’

Before Vought could finish, Murray cut in again, saying, ‘I assume you’re unwilling to share which humanitarian crisis this administration plans to walk away with, which is what we would be voting on, and that is critical information.’

But it wasn’t just Democrats taking Vought to task during the hearing.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voiced frustration over the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts, taking particular issue with cuts to public broadcasting, which she said plays an important emergency services role in her state.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also voiced objections to the cuts to foreign aid, which he said were opportunities to project American soft power.

‘Instead of creating efficiency, you’ve created vacuums for adversaries like China to fill responsible investments in soft power, prevent conflict, preserve American influence, and save countless of lives at the same time,’ said McConnell.

For his part, Vought said that ‘it is critical that this body and the American people writ large, understand that many foreign aid programs use benevolent-sounding titles to hide truly appalling activity that is not in line with American interests.’

Vought said the ‘entire federal government must be responsible with each taxpayer dollar that comes to Washington.’

‘The American people voted for change. President Trump stands ready to put our fiscal house back in order and put the American taxpayer first,’ he said, adding, ‘A vote for rescissions is a vote to show that the United States Senate is serious about getting our fiscal house in order. I hope that the Senate will join us in that fight.’

The White House social media team stepped up its meme game with a new spoof on a viral moment from the NATO Summit in which Secretary General Mark Rutte called President Donald Trump ‘daddy.’

A video set to the Usher hit ‘Daddy’s Home’ showed Trump arriving home aboard Air Force One being cheered on by supporters. It also showed clips from the summit, the president arriving at the Dutch palace, his meetings with world leaders and his handshake with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Like the moment when Rutte made the comment one day earlier, the White House clip set social media ablaze. 

‘Presidential meme game reaching unprecedented levels,’ internet personality Mario Nawfal wrote X. 

‘This is easily the best thing on the internet,’ added political commentator Benny Johnson. 

Others were less enthused. 

‘An official product of the WH communications office —’ ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl wrote along with the clip. 

‘This is super straight and super alpha male. Uh huh,’ wrote former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an anti-Trump Republican. 

During a bilateral meeting with Trump in The Hague, Netherlands, Rutte defended Trump’s use of an expletive to criticize Israel and Iran as they threatened the ceasefire he brokered. 

‘Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.’ 

Outside the White House Tuesday morning, a frustrated Trump told reporters Israel and Iran ‘have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing.’ 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio cracked up laughing when a reporter asked about the comment during a news conference at the summit Wednesday.

Rutte and Trump have found common cause in pushing NATO allies to increase defense spending. During the summit, the alliance agreed to Trump’s longtime demand that each member state boost defense spending to 5%. 

Senate Republicans pushed back against a leaked report that President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran did not obliterate the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, but still wanted more information on the full extent of the damage done to the key facilities.

A widely reported ‘low confidence’ assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) suggested that the weekend strikes, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, did not completely destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Trump has remained firm that the sites were ‘totally obliterated,’ and the White House has strongly pushed back against the report. And both the Israeli and Iranian governments agree that the sites were badly damaged.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee told Fox News Digital that they were confident in the president’s assessment and pushed back against the DIA’s findings.

‘First of all, one of the things I’d consider is the DIA said that Ukraine would be wiped out in three days,’ Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told Fox News Digital. ‘And second, whatever the damage to Fordow is, the damage to the [nuclear] capabilities of Iran are devastating.’

Cramer said that the effectiveness of the bombing, which was carried out by several B-2 bombers armed with bunker-busting bombs, could not be ‘overstated,’ and warned that lingering questions surrounding the effectiveness of the operation were just ‘fodder for political discussion.’

‘I think the mission was accomplished,’ he said.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., had not yet read the report, but called the DIA’s finding and subsequent news reports ‘bogus.’ Wicker’s sentiment came just after Senate Republicans met behind closed doors with Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter.

‘We just spoke to the Israeli ambassador to the United States just a few moments ago, and his assessment is that their capability has been destroyed for years,’ Wicker said.

Still, just how damaged the nuclear facilities are, particularly the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant buried deep under layers of rock, is a question lawmakers want answered and believe would only come from a true boots-on-the-ground assessment.

Senators are set to receive a briefing Thursday afternoon from Trump officials on the strikes, and expect to learn more about the true extent of the damage.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that he’d seen all the evidence and there was not ‘an inconsistency’ between the president’s assertions and the materials he had seen.

He said that the briefing would allow lawmakers ‘a chance from multiple sources to glean what’s actually down deep underneath,’ but noted that until more clear information was available, absolute confirmation of the total damage wrought by the bombs was not complete.

Whether another strike should be authorized should further intelligence show that the program was not fully destroyed, Rounds said, ‘another strike depends on what the other options would be.’

‘I don’t think you ever take anything off the table for the president, but there might be other ways of handling it as well, because we’ve really opened that place up now,’ he said.