Trump tries to void Biden's pardons, blaming autopen. Many presidents
have used it
President Trump is claiming without evidence that some of former
President Joe Biden's actions are invalid because he allegedly used a
machine to automate signatures on documents, which is a longstanding
practice in the White House.
...
...
It is not clear whether Biden actually used an autopen to sign the
documents in question. And even if he did, legal experts say it's not
clear the pardons could be rescinded -- for that or any other reason.
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, which grants presidents
broad clemency powers, says the pardon only needs to be "accepted by
its subject" to take effect -- and does not mention anything about
reversing them after the fact.
Jay Wexler, a professor of constitutional law at Boston University
School of Law, told NPR he thinks the autopen issue is a "nonstarter"
and a "distraction." Importantly, he says, there is nothing in the
Constitution that requires pardons be in writing at all.
"The argument that the pardon fails because it was signed by an
autopen fails at the get-go, because there's no requirement that the
pardon even be signed," he explained.
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/17/nx-s1-5330709/autopen-biden-pardon-void
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