President Joe Biden has admitted that he did not personally sign each individual clemency order issued during his final months in office, instead relying on staff and the White House’s autopen to execute dozens of pardons and commutations — some affecting thousands of people.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Biden stated, “I made every decision,” but conceded that aides used an autopen to replicate his signature because of the sheer volume of cases. “We’re talking about a lot of people,” he said.
Documents reviewed by the outlet reveal that 25 clemency warrants between December and January were signed via autopen, including two broad measures: a Dec. 12 order commuting approximately 1,500 sentences and pardoning 39 individuals, and a Jan. 17 order commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 federal inmates convicted of crack cocaine offenses.
Emails from Jan. 19 — the final night of Biden’s presidency — show then-White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients authorized the use of the autopen on all pending clemency orders. At 10:31 p.m., Zients wrote, “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons.” The process was managed by former staff secretary Stefanie Feldman.
Sources cited by The Times noted that aides preparing internal memos, or “blurbs,” to justify the autopen signatures were often not present when Biden gave approval. Nonetheless, the president insisted he had final say on each major decision, referencing the pardon of Gen. Mark Milley, former Joint Chiefs Chairman, as a personal priority. “I told them I wanted to make sure he had a pardon because I knew exactly what Trump would do — without any merit,” Biden said.
The clemency list also reportedly included pre-emptive pardons for Biden family members, including his brother James Biden.
Former President Donald Trump has criticized the process, calling it illegal and alleging Biden’s aides used the autopen without the president’s full awareness. “They are criminals, and what they did to our country should never be forgotten,” Trump said on Pod Force One, a podcast hosted by New York Post columnist Miranda Devine.
The Department of Justice last month opened an investigation into whether White House staff improperly used the autopen to approve clemency actions and whether Biden’s cognitive state was exploited in the process. The White House confirmed that Ed Martin, head of an internal working group focused on misuse of executive power, is leading the review.
Biden responded sharply to Republican criticism, accusing his opponents of fabricating narratives to distract from their own political challenges. “They’re liars. They know it,” he said. “This is just a way to change the focus.”
The use of the autopen, while legally permitted and used by previous administrations including Trump’s, has sparked renewed debate over presidential accountability and executive decision-making in the final days of a term.
