Overview
- In Truth Social posts this week, President Trump said all Biden-era documents signed by autopen are null and void and claimed clemency granted that way is terminated.
- A 2005 Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion states a president may authorize a subordinate or a mechanical device to sign, giving such signatures full legal effect when directed by the president.
- Legal experts say pardons are constitutionally final once granted, and that undoing executive orders requires new written orders while changing regulations must follow Administrative Procedure Act procedures.
- Scholars also note a social media declaration has no legal force, and no court has rejected the validity of authorized autopen signatures used by multiple presidents.
- A GOP-led House Oversight report alleges extensive late-term autopen use and urges DOJ review, but Biden denies any unauthorized actions and no official ruling has altered the status of the contested measures.