House Republicans are heaping scrutiny on former President Joe Biden’s use of autopen in the White House, particularly for clemency orders. The focus is on the roughly 1,500 commutation orders signed by Biden toward the end of his term after revelations that an autopen was used for a significant number of them. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chair of the Ways & Means Committee, questioned whether Biden or aides were responsible for these decisions, emphasizing the need for accountability as Americans deserve transparency about their leaders’ actions.
According to a report by the New York Times earlier this month, autopen signatures were used on clemency orders in the last few months of Biden’s presidential tenure. Biden has told the outlet that he made “every decision,” but the report describes a meticulous process where aides recorded his decisions and passed them through a chain of email communication, suggesting Biden had final sign-off. However, the report notes that the Times has not seen the full extent of the emails, making it impossible to assess the complete picture of Biden’s involvement in the pardon and clemency decisions.
Lawmakers such as Rep. Mark Messmer, R-Ind., have argued that the use of autopen signatures issued in the late hours of the day should be scrutinized further, especially after Biden had reportedly stopped scheduling events after 8 p.m. due to the need for sleep, as reported by the Times in July 2024. Messmer suggested that decisions made after 10:30 p.m. should be questioned, as this time frame is beyond the president’s normal cognitive activity. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, emphasized the need for accountability, stating that the American public wants to know that decisions made in Biden’s name were truly his responsibility.
Some lawmakers have even suggested that courts should examine the possibility of nullifying certain pardons. Rep. John McGuire, R-Va., proposed that