--- title: President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Prison Sentence description: President Obama shortened the sentence of Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army soldier who admitted to leaking secret government documents canonical: https://time.com/4636935/president-obama-commute-chelsea-manning-prison-sentence/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-17T21:42:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:46:13.649Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Prison Sentence og:description: Manning's sentence will expire on May 17, 2017 og:url: https://time.com/4636935/president-obama-commute-chelsea-manning-prison-sentence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Chelsea Manning og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Prison Sentence twitter:description: Manning's sentence will expire on May 17, 2017 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Prison Sentence > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 17, 2017 9:42 PM UTC  Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick.U.S. Army/AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 17, 2017 9:42 PM UTC [President Obama](http://time.com/4636826/president-obama-surprise-josh-earnest-final-briefing/) shortened the sentence of [Chelsea Manning](http://time.com/4597422/chelsea-manning-petition-white-house/?iid=sr-link3), a former U.S. Army soldier who admitted to leaking secret government documents to WikiLeaks. She had been sentenced to serve 35 years behind bars. Under the President’s order, Manning’s sentence will expire on May 17, 2017. Manning, who was born Bradley Manning, came out as a transgender woman after she was sentenced to serve 35 years in prison. She’s faced trouble in her efforts to transition behind bars. In 2016, a [petition garnered 100,000 signatures](http://time.com/4597422/chelsea-manning-petition-white-house/) calling for President Obama to release her early. She has been in an all-male prison and has tried to commit suicide more than once. The president’s announcement came as a surprise to Evan Greer, a friend and supporter of Manning’s who spoke to TIME on Tuesday. The president’s decision, Greer said, is “saving Chelsea’s life.” “She has so much to offer the world. It’s incredible that she’ll be able to do that now and people will be able to learn about who she is as a whole being,” Greer said. “Her friends and supporters and legal team will be jumping into action to be there for her and help her return to her life.” Manning’s was one of 209 commutations granted by President Obama on Tuesday. He also pardoned 64 individuals. “Chelsea Manning exposed serious abuses, and as a result her own human rights have been violated by the U.S. government for years,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA. “President Obama was right to commute her sentence, but it is long overdue. It is unconscionable that she languished in prison for years while those allegedly implicated by the information she revealed still haven’t been brought to justice.” Amnesty also called on Obama to pardon Edward Snowden, though press secretary Josh Earnest has indicated that’s unlikely. At Friday’s press briefing he outlined stark differences between the two cases. “I’m relieved and thankful that the president is doing the right thing and commuting Chelsea Manning’s sentence,” said Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT Project representing Manning. “Since she was first taken into custody, Chelsea has been subjected to long stretches of solitary confinement — including for attempting suicide — and has been denied access to medically necessary health care. This move could quite literally save Chelsea’s life, and we are all better off knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk out of prison a free woman, dedicated to making the world a better place and fighting for justice for so many.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4636935/president-obama-commute-chelsea-manning-prison-sentence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4636935/president-obama-commute-chelsea-manning-prison-sentence/"},"headline":"President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Prison Sentence","datePublished":"2017-01-17T21:42:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:46:13.649Z","description":"Under the order, Manning's sentence will expire on May 17, 2017","url":"https://time.com/4636935/president-obama-commute-chelsea-manning-prison-sentence/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Chelsea Manning","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chelsea Manning","caption":"Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick.","creditText":"U.S. Army/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4636935/president-obama-commute-chelsea-manning-prison-sentence/","name":"President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Prison Sentence"}}]}] ```