WaPo urges Congress to require cognitive testing for presidents after book claims Biden’s decline was concealed.

Post Editorial Board Calls for Legal Safeguards

The Washington Post editorial board has called on Congress to implement stronger oversight mechanisms to prevent future concealment of a president’s medical condition. The demand follows revelations in a new book alleging former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline was deliberately hidden by his inner circle.

In a sharply worded editorial published Wednesday, the Post stated, “It now seems that, for a considerable time, Biden might have lacked the stamina and cognitive capacity the job demands — and that his family and closest aides concealed this from the public.” The board criticized those around Biden for prioritizing personal loyalty over duty to the country and urged lawmakers to consider formal measures to avoid similar cover-ups in the future.

Book Alleges Longstanding Concealment of Health Issues

The editorial was prompted by the release of “Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” co-authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. The book alleges that Biden's cognitive challenges were apparent as early as his 2020 campaign, with aides reportedly managing his schedule around times when he was mentally sharp and shielding him from taxing events.

According to the book, Biden began forgetting the names of top staff and exhibiting confusion by 2022. A Democratic insider involved in his campaign reportedly concluded that Biden was unfit for office even then.

The release comes just days after it was revealed that Biden had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Former Biden medical adviser Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel told MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough that the cancer likely developed years earlier, stating, “He did not develop it in the last 100 to 200 days.”

Proposal for Cognitive Oversight Mechanism

The Post argued that Congress should be empowered to monitor a sitting president’s mental and physical health and act when necessary. The editors proposed the creation of a bipartisan commission to evaluate presidential health transparency policies.

“Perhaps some objective cognitive testing should be required, in addition to a physical examination, with the results made public annually,” the editorial suggested. The board emphasized that voters deserve full knowledge of a leader’s health, warning, “The country was fortunate not to have experienced a late-night crisis that he would have had trouble handling. It would be folly to count on such luck in the future.”

In its conclusion, the editorial challenged lawmakers to ask critical questions: How can the government respond when a president appears to be operating with diminished faculties, and what measures can ensure transparency in leadership going forward?