Trump Declares Biden’s Autopen-Signed Documents ‘Invalid,’ Constitutional Experts Call Claim Unconstitutional

Trump stated, “Any document, directive, proclamation, or agreement signed with an autopen under the administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr. is no longer valid.” He further claimed that recipients of these documents should consider them “canceled.”

Constitutional experts in the U.S. immediately rejected Trump’s claim, stating that a president does not have the constitutional authority to revoke pardons or commutations issued by a predecessor. Bernadette Miller, a constitutional scholar at Stanford University, told Al Jazeera that pardons and commutations issued by Biden are final and cannot be legally rescinded.

U.S. law clearly states that once a pardon is granted, it cannot be revoked. A court ruling from 1869 also confirmed that a pardon, once issued, is permanent.

During his four-year term, Biden issued over 4,200 commutations, although he granted few personal pardons. Through a special proclamation, he pardoned citizens convicted of offenses such as former military personnel punished due to same-sex relationships or minor marijuana-related crimes.

It is unclear which documents Biden signed with an autopen. Trump claimed that some individuals under investigation for the January 6 Capitol riot had received “preemptive pardons” via autopen, referring to them as “collaborators of the opposing party.” However, no official confirmation exists that these pardons were indeed signed using an autopen.

Historically, many U.S. presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama, have used technology to sign documents when necessary. Legal opinions from 1929 and 2005 confirmed that a president’s personal signature is not legally mandatory.

Experts emphasize that Trump’s declaration is largely political and has no legal effect. All pardons, commutations, and documents signed by Biden using an autopen remain valid and effective.