Cabinet members who proudly defended President Biden’s fitness for office prior to Thursday night’s presidential debate took a more reserved, if unambiguous, stance on Friday morning as the dust settled.
Several top members of the Biden administration said they stood by their previous statements about Biden’s abilities and said no efforts to declare the president incapable of serving via the 25th Amendment were underway now or should be in the future.
But the group also offered no new support for the embattled commander in chief, whose debate performance only amplified increasing concerns about his mental acuity.
“His mental and physical decline has been obvious throughout his presidency,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Friday. “To anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, last night should have been a wake-up call.”
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Cabinet members provided terse responses when asked about Biden’s performance and how it contrasted with the recent and far more effusive pre-debate defenses they offered of the president.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks to the media about an overview of public safety plans for Super Bowl week on Feb. 7, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Candice Ward/Getty Images)
Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week rejected accusations that Biden is “slipping,” instead claiming that “the president always draws on our prior conversations and past events in analyzing the issues and reaching his conclusion.”
When asked if Mayorkas stands by those comments, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital: “YES.”
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The spokesperson also insisted that the 25th Amendment “SHOULD NOT” be invoked to relieve Biden of his duties. The amendment governs presidential succession and provides a mechanism for the vice president to assume the duties of the president if a majority of the cabinet finds that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and the duties of his office.” Any dispute from the president would then send the matter to Congress.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken likewise stands by his prior comments, according to a spokesperson. Blinken previously stressed that during his 22 years working with Biden, “his depth of knowledge, fluency with policy and politics and ability to cut to the chase and argue his case are exceptional. He’s invariably one step ahead of us.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Commerce told Fox News Digital that Sec. Raimando “stands by her comments on President Biden,” and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also reaffirmed her support for Biden, according to Department of Energy director of public affairs Amanda Finney.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm testifies during a House subcommittee hearing in the Rayburn Building on March 23, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Yes, the Secretary stands by her comments made previously,” Finney said in an email to Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Fox News Digital, “The Secretary stands by her previous comments including the statement provided to Fox digital” and rejected talk of the 25th Amendment, saying there are no rumblings and “it won’t be” invoked.
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Yellen previously told Fox News Digital: “Both in Washington and in meetings with world leaders around the globe — including during strenuous negotiations with President Xi — I’ve always seen President Biden to be extremely well-informed, in command of the facts and very effective in advancing American interests.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (Loren Elliott/AFP)
A spokesperson for Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said that they had “nothing to add” beyond comments made last week, in which Haaland touted Biden’s mentorship and described his leadership as “a strong, experienced hand as well as a compassionate heart in this era of both environmental and political challenges.”
“Each time, he takes charge and implores us to think more deeply about our task of moving our country forward,” Haaland said in the earlier remarks.
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A White House spokesperson said any inquiries for Vice President Kamala Harris, who made the rounds on CNN and MSNBC immediately following the debate Thursday night and who was sought for comment in her official executive branch capacity, should be directed to the Biden campaign. The campaign did not immediately respond when contacted.
Other cabinet members did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by the time of publication.