Overview

• On July 21, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer announced that his investigation into former President Biden’s use of an autopen will include all judicial nominations signed with the device.
• Comer warned that if courts deem those autopen signatures invalid, judges confirmed by the Senate could have their appointments declared null and void.
• Republican members allege unnamed aides exploited the autopen during periods of Biden’s alleged incapacitation to sign executive orders, pardons and nominations.
• President Biden has maintained that he personally approved every autopen signature and made all substantive decisions on documents bearing his name.
• Democrats dismiss the probe as a partisan effort lacking evidence, noting longstanding legal precedents uphold autopen use when expressly authorized by the president.