President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he was nullifying all the last-minute pardons issued by former President Joe Biden using an autopen, an action that is sure to ignite fury from Democrats and a new legal battle.
“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,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early Monday morning.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” he said of the oldest-ever president amid lingering concerns at his age-related mental abilities at 82.
Trump also alleged that the pardons were not actually approved by Biden.
“The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden,” he wrote. “He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime.”
Trump also cautioned that members of the former Jan. 6 House select committee who received pardons from Biden would be “subject to investigation at the highest level.”
BOOM 💥
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) March 16, 2025
“Is the auto pen allowed for pardons? No. It is not constitutionally allowed for presidential pardons. Why? Because the U.S constitution requires the president to be present. He was in a different state on vacation”
“Article 2, section 2 grants the president the power… pic.twitter.com/dj5eWFGpG4
“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,” Trump wrote.
“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!” he added.
On the final day of his presidency, President Biden issued a series of last-minute pardons, including preemptive pardons for all nine members of the January 6th Committee. The group included the committee’s two leaders, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who later declared her support for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2025 election, the New York Post noted.
Among the other notable recipients were former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci. Milley, who had publicly criticized Donald Trump as a “wannabe dictator,” had provided testimony during the House investigation into the deadly January 6th Capitol attacks.
Fauci, who served as President Biden’s chief medical advisor until his retirement in 2022, faced significant criticism for repeatedly dismissing the theory that COVID-19 most likely originated from a Chinese lab. Trump and other Republicans have accused the 84-year-old doctor of lying to Congress about critical aspects of his pandemic response.
Fauci denied to Congress that, during his tenure as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the U.S. government provided funding to EcoHealth Alliance for gain-of-function research.
However, federal watchdogs and congressional investigations uncovered evidence showing that federal funds were indeed directed toward risky gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, The Post reported.
Trump expressed outrage following Biden’s preemptive pardons, shredding the move as “disgraceful” and saying, “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”
It is uncertain whether any court will take action to invalidate Biden’s pardons concerning the autopen claims, or whether anyone will challenge Trump’s declaration that they are void — especially if he directs his Justice Department to take action.
That said, last week, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey suggested that dozens of executive orders signed by Biden were authorized with identical autopen signatures, stating that, “if true, these executive orders, pardons, and all other actions are unconstitutional and legally void.”
“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 said.
