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Maybe Donald Trump should have stuck to memeing Joe Biden over the autopen issue. His team put this out yesterday, to hilarious effect:
???? pic.twitter.com/8eQJN6hujJ— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2025
Instead of leaving it at ridicule, however, Trump has decided to escalate matters. Late last night, Trump declared all pardons signed by autopen to be legally void:
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. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. 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. 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!
First, the main question is: Can presidents revoke previously issued presidential pardons for any reason? Nothing in Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution suggests any review or recall authority for presidential pardons. The entire discussion of presidential pardoning authority rests in this one clause of the first paragraph: «and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.»
However, there are a couple of precedents, one quite recent — but it may not be helpful to Trump.
