Jill Biden joined a Cabinet meeting to give a women’s health update. She’s not running the US

As part of a narrative that President Joe Biden isn’t fulfilling his duties as commander in chief, some conservative commentators and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump claimed first lady Jill Biden stepped in to run a Cabinet meeting for her husband. Some pointed to a presidential folder as more evidence of her takeover.

"JUST IN: Jill is taking over for Joe Biden at the first White House cabinet meeting in 11 months," conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted Sept. 20 on X. A screenshot of an MSNBC video shows Jill Biden sitting at the end of a table with Cabinet members with a chyron that said, "First lady joins Pres. Biden in Cabinet meeting.

Six minutes later, Johnson shared a photo of what he called White House stationery bearing the presidential seal and signatures from both Bidens. "Stationary at the White House now has the Presidential Seal flanked by ‘President’ Jill Biden’s signature," Johnson wrote.

During a Sept. 21 rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Trump repeated the claim: "I don't know, Is he still the president? Is he the president? Because yesterday his wife took over the Cabinet meeting, right? He hasn’t had a meeting in like two years and yesterday they finally had it and he said, ‘I’m going to let Jill handle it.’" 

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., reshared a tweet from The Blaze, a conservative outlet, about the Cabinet meeting, writing, "Is this real? Is this who’s running the country?"

Instagram users reshared Johnson’s photo, and it was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Jill Biden didn’t lead the meeting or sit in the president’s usual spot; she was providing a scheduled update on her initiative for women’s health research. Joe Biden led the meeting. The binder is ceremonial.

Some conservative media outlets criticized her presence at the meeting, partly because it was the first one the president had held in 11 months, and might be his last before his presidency ends in January. 

But Jill Biden is not the first first lady to join Cabinet meetings to talk about their priorities; others include Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Clinton.

The White House told PolitiFact that Johnson’s photo depicts a binder with Joe and Jill Biden’s signatures that is given as a keepsake to attendees of White House events. It is not used by staff for official purposes.

The White House said first lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council would lead its Initiative on Women’s Health Research in November 2023. It aims to address how the U.S. approaches and funds women’s health research, which has been historically understudied. 

On March 18, President Biden signed an executive order to prioritize investments in women’s health research and integrate it with U.S. federal research programs. It also called for new research on women’s midlife health and assessing unmet needs to support women’s health studies.

Jill Biden has given speeches and hosted meetings since the initiative launched. 

In an email announcing her Sept. 20 schedule, the White House said, "At 11:30 AM, First Lady Jill Biden will join at the top of President Biden’s Cabinet meeting to provide an update on the progress of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research."

It was Jill Biden’s first Cabinet appearance since Joe Biden took office. Cabinet attendees included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

President Biden started the meeting by saying Congress should pass a continuing resolution to fund the government and avoid a shutdown.

Then he introduced his wife, who was seated at one end of the oval table. (Biden appears to be sitting in the president’s regular place in the Cabinet Room, in the middle of a long side of the table with his back to the windows.)

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"We’re grateful that Jill is here today," Biden said. "And here, across previous administrations, first ladies have attended these meetings and on — for specific reasons. It’s the first time Jill has joined us. And it goes to show how important the issue is, what she’s about to speak to, to both of us. Today, at the top of our meeting, Jill is going to give an update on the White House initiative to fundamentally change the approach and fund, on how we approach and fund women’s health services."

Jill then began her remarks.

"In February, (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health), the agency Joe created to pursue breakthrough health research, at lightning speed, launched its first-ever Sprint for Women’s Health. The $100-million investment will fund innovations that will be life-changing for women," Jill Biden said. "Then, a month later, NIH (the National Institutes of Health)  committed another $200 million to fund interdisciplinary women’s health research, for example, looking at how menopause affects heart health, brain health, and bone health."

She also spoke about a new joint effort by the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs to improve research for women in the military and for women veterans, and new funding from the Health and Human Services Department to address women’s mental health and substance use treatment.

The first lady spoke for about 4 ½ minutes.

After she spoke, reporters asked President Biden whether it was realistic to get a cease-fire deal with Israel. Then aides ushered the press out of the room. 

Social media posts claimed that Jill Biden was running President Biden’s Cabinet meeting and that her signature now appears on official presidential correspondence.

The claims about her presence are overblown.

The first lady joined Biden’s Sept. 20 Cabinet meeting to discuss updates on the Women’s Health Initiative, a White House endeavor she has headed since its creation in 2023. First ladies have joined Cabinet meetings in the past. 

The White House told PolitiFact that the binder that shows the first lady’s signature along with Biden’s is a keepsake typically given to White House event attendees and is not used by staff for official purposes.

We rate this claim False.