--- title: Can Trump Void Biden’s Presidential Pardons? description: President Donald Trump signaled that he intends to nullify the presidential pardons—an act experts say falls out the scope of his power. canonical: https://time.com/7268902/trump-void-bidens-pardon-autopen/ author: Solcyré Burga article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-03-17T17:42:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-03-17T21:22:51.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Can Trump Void Biden’s Presidential Pardons? og:description: President Donald Trump announced Monday he wanted to void the presidential pardons issued by Biden og:url: https://time.com/7268902/trump-void-bidens-pardon-autopen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdeac6135b83ffebc/6998c4f125f3eeca51644725/AP25073725648070.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 7737 og:image:height: 4352 og:image:alt: Trump Justice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Can Trump Void Biden’s Presidential Pardons? twitter:description: President Donald Trump announced Monday he wanted to void the presidential pardons issued by Biden twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdeac6135b83ffebc/6998c4f125f3eeca51644725/AP25073725648070.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Trump Can't 'Void' Biden's Pardons Because of Autopen > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7b97f0a0-c031-4f28-96b8-05b36ff9bd27&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Claims Biden's Pardons of Jan. 6 Committee Members are "Void" Because He Signed with Autopen [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Claims Biden's Pardons of Jan. 6 Committee Members are "Void" Because He Signed with Autopen](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BBz8Wojr.m3u8) (1:37)  _Published 2025-03-17. President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that pardons recently signed and issued by then-President Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the special congressional committee that investigated the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were void._  by [Solcyré Burga](https://time.com/author/solcyre-burga/)  ## Solcyré Burga Reporter Updated: Mar 17, 2025 9:22 PM UTCPublished: Mar 17, 2025 5:42 PM UTC President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that pardons recently signed and issued by then-President Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the special congressional committee that investigated the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were void.  by [Solcyré Burga](https://time.com/author/solcyre-burga/)  ## Solcyré Burga Reporter Updated: Mar 17, 2025 9:22 PM UTCPublished: Mar 17, 2025 5:42 PM UTC On Monday, President Donald Trump signaled that he intends to nullify the presidential pardons—issued to those on the [House Jan. 6 committee](https://time.com/6192327/trump-jan-6-hearings-reality-show/) that investigated Trump—executed by President Joe Biden because, he said, they were signed via autopen. “The 'Pardons' that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” the President [shared](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114175908922736427) on his social media platform Truth Social. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden.” But according to the U.S. Constitution, the President has no such authority to overturn his [predecessor’s pardons](https://time.com/7260570/cpac-trump-pardon-jan-6/), especially not based on the type of signature, legal experts say. “The Constitution doesn't even require that the pardon be written, so the idea that the signature is by autopen rather than by handwritten signature seems not relevant to the constitutionality because Article II just says that the President has the power to pardon,” says Bernadette Meyler, a Stanford Law School professor and constitutional law expert. Autopen is an electronic signature that allows individuals to sign a document without physically being there. The signature mimics a handwritten signature, but is done by a computer. A vast number of statutes and other documents have been signed by autopen, experts say. For instance, former President Barack Obama signed a national security measure via autopen while he was in France. Meyler says that if presidential pardons were to be invalidated because of an autopen signature, that could bring into question other policies that were signed by such measures. “When so much is being automated and put online, requiring some literalness in the signature really would be a step backwards," she says. A 2005 [guidance](https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/whether-president-may-sign-bill-directing-his-signature-be-affixed-it) from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) noted that a President does not need to “personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law. Rather, the President may sign a bill within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 by directing a subordinate to affix the President’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.” Jeffrey Crouch, a professor at American University, [told Axios](https://www.axios.com/2025/03/17/trump-biden-pardons-autopen-jan-6-committee) that pardons are final so long as they are valid. But aside from criticizing the use of the autopen, Trump also appears to be undermining President Biden’s cognitive ability at the time such pardons were issued. “He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level. The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump wrote on Monday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed this position during a White House briefing on Monday, when she questioned whether Biden knew his signature was on such pardons. When asked if the White House had any evidence to support such a claim, Leavitt responded, “You're a reporter, you should find out.” These concerns were previously flagged by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who called on the DOJ to investigate Biden’s actions on March 5\. “I am demanding the DOJ investigate whether President Biden’s cognitive decline allowed unelected staff to push through radical policy without his knowing approval,” Bailey [posted on X](https://x.com/AGAndrewBailey/status/1897388657557885403). If Trump were to try to prosecute someone who received a presidential pardon, experts say the case would likely go to courts, where Trump’s actions are unlikely to stand. “I can't imagine the court saying that it wasn't a valid pardon because of the autopen issue,” says Meyler. “Biden made statements regarding these pardons, so it would be hard to show that they weren't a decision of the President.” ## Transcript The president's post overnight, saying that he is that the pardons that were issued by President Biden preemptively to to members of the January 6th committee, that they're now null and void. Have attorneys here at the white House told President Trump that he has the legal authority to undo a pardon simply because it was signed by Autopen as as he said, the. President was begging the question that I think a lot of journalists in this room should be asking about whether or not the former president of the United States, who I think we can all finally agree was cognitively impaired. I know it took people some time to finally admit that, but we all know that to be true. As evidenced by his disastrous debate performance against President Trump during the campaign. I digress on that. But the president was raising the point that did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge? And that's not just the president or me raising those questions, Caitlin. According to the New York Post, there are Biden officials from the previous white House who raised those questions and wondered if the president was even consulted about his legally binding signature being signed onto documents. And so I think it's a question that everybody in this room should be looking into, because certainly that would propose perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were signing the president of the United States autograph without his consent. Is on the record talking about issuing preemptive pardons to these people. But was he aware of the of his signature being used on every single pardon? That's a question you should ask the Biden. Is there any evidence on that that he wasn't aware of it? You're a reporter. 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