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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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President Joe Biden's pardons are not void even if he used an autopen, legal experts told Newsweek.
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social in a March 17 post that his predecessor's 11th-hour pardons of members of Congress who investigated the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol were "void, vacant and of no further force or effect" because they were allegedly signed using an autopen.
Frank Bowman, professor at the University of Missouri School of Law who has written about presidential pardon power, told Newsweek that a "pardon, once issued, cannot be voided by a succeeding president."
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Bowman said it would not matter if the former president used an autopen because there's "no question that Biden authorized and intended to issue these pardons."
The White House has been contacted for comment via email.
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Why It Matters
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly threatened to come after his biggest political adversaries and those who were on the committee that investigated the Capitol attack.
Biden granted preemptive pardons to members and staff of the House committee that investigated the riot, including Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci and retired General Mark Milley, to protect them from being targeted by the Trump administration.
Pardon power has long been viewed as one of the most absolute powers that a president has. Trump has acknowledged that it would be up to the courts to decide whether Biden's pardons are valid, but it would set a precedent if Trump is able to undo his predecessor's pardons.
What To Know
Trump told reporters on Sunday that Biden's pardons are "null and void, because I'm sure Biden didn't have any idea that it was taking place."
But Peter Shane, a U.S. constitutional and administrative law scholar and professor at New York University, told Newsweek that the use of an autopen "does not void the pardons."
Shane said: "Biden's statement explaining the pardons makes clear that they are his official acts. They were not executed without his authority."
Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, told Newsweek that the Constitution does not require that pardons be issued in writing.
Gillers added: "What kind of pen did Trump use to pardon the 1/6 rioters?"
Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that pardons did not need to be in writing.
"The answer is undoubtedly no," the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling said. "The plain language of the Constitution imposes no such limit."
What People Are Saying
Bowman told Newsweek: "A pardon, once issued, cannot be voided by a succeeding president. There is a possible issue about whether a pardon could be rescinded before it was accepted by the beneficiary. But I am unaware that any of Biden's pardons were not accepted."
He added: "I don't know whether any of Biden's pardon warrants were generated using an auto pen. But if so, I don't think it would matter in the least. There's no question that Biden authorized and intended to issue these pardons—he announced them publicly along with justifications for issuing them. That being so, the mode employed to prepare warrants shouldn't matter."
Gillers told Newsweek: "The Constitution has no such requirement. It has no writing requirement at all. What kind of pen did Trump use to pardon the 1/6 rioters? Next Trump will be telling us that the pardons are invalid because they were signed with blue ink, not black ink. Or because Biden did not include his middle initial. Or because they were signed at midnight. Wait for it."
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night about Biden's pardons: "It's not my decision—that'll be up to a court—but I would say that they're null and void, because I'm sure Biden didn't have any idea that it was taking place, and somebody was using an autopen to sign off and to give pardons."
Biden said in a statement announcing the pardons on January 20: "These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions."
What Happens Next
It is not clear whether a court will move to void Biden's pardons over the claims they were signed using an autopen.
Update 3/17/25, 9:32 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comment from Frank Bowman.
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