Who are the physicians on President Biden's medical team and what are their statements?
Executive summary
President Biden’s primary physician in office was Kevin O’Connor, DO, who has served as Physician to the President since Jan. 20, 2021 and leads a larger White House Medical Unit that includes about nine doctors, 15 nurses and 15 physician assistants [1] [2]. O’Connor and the White House medical team have issued specific statements — including a July 2024 letter explaining visits by a Parkinson’s specialist — while Republican investigators later criticized the medical team's transparency [3] [4].
1. Who is the Physician to the President: a long-standing military doctor
Kevin O’Connor, DO, is the named Physician to the President; he began in that role at Biden’s 2021 inauguration and previously served in the White House Medical Unit and as the Bidens’ family physician going back to 2009 [1] [5]. Profiles note his military background and that his role includes both primary care for the president and the “executive protective medicine” responsibilities tied to travel and security [2] [5].
2. The broader White House medical team: a unit, not a single practitioner
Reporting and professional profiles emphasize that O’Connor operates as part of a larger White House Medical Unit: roughly nine doctors, 15 nurses and 15 physician assistants plus administrators support presidential care and on‑the‑road emergency planning [2]. Available sources do not provide a full roster of individual physicians on that team beyond O’Connor [2].
3. Public statements and the Parkinson’s‑specialist explanation
When questions arose about repeated visits by a neurologist with Parkinson’s expertise, the White House released a letter from Dr. O’Connor intended to clarify the situation and “clear up” why that specialist had visited the residence clinic; reporting cites the letter as a targeted attempt at transparency after press exchanges [3]. The source documents that logs show the neurologist met with O’Connor and cardiologist John Atwood in the White House residence clinic as part of routine encounters [3].
4. Transparency disputes and political scrutiny
Republican investigators and House committees later criticized the White House medical team’s disclosures. A House Oversight report accused top advisors and the personal physician of concealing decline and disputed whether cognitive testing was performed; that report specifically recommends review of the physician’s actions by the D.C. Board of Medicine and alleges O’Connor invoked the Fifth Amendment in committee questioning [4]. The Oversight Committee portrays its conclusions as evidence of a “cover‑up,” while other sources document the medical team’s prior public statements seeking transparency [4] [3].
5. Professional background cited in coverage and why it matters
Profiles emphasize O’Connor’s osteopathic training, long White House service, and military experience; that biography has been used by outlets to establish credentials and explain his role in both routine care and emergency/tactical planning for presidential movements [1] [2]. These details have been central to both defenses of his stewardship and to scrutiny over whether his medical judgments were influenced by political considerations [1] [4].
6. Divergent narratives: medical reassurance vs. political allegation
The coverage presents two competing storylines. One frames O’Connor as an experienced military physician running a unit that issued a clarifying letter about specialist visits [2] [3]. The other, advanced in the Oversight Committee report, alleges concealment and calls for disciplinary review and criminal referrals tied to the physician and political aides [4]. Both narratives draw on factual anchors in the public record but reach different judgments about intent and sufficiency of disclosure [3] [4].
7. What sources do — and do not — say
Available reporting identifies Kevin O’Connor as the central physician and documents his letter about the neurologist visit and the Oversight Committee’s later critical report [1] [3] [4]. Available sources do not provide a complete, named list of every physician currently serving on the White House Medical Unit beyond the published count of staff [2]. They do not, in the provided material, settle clinical questions about President Biden’s cognitive testing beyond the Oversight Committee’s claims and the physician’s public letters [4] [3].
Limitations: this analysis relies solely on the supplied sources and therefore cannot incorporate later statements, full internal medical records, or reporting outside this set. Where sources disagree, both perspectives are reported above with their citations [4] [3].