Trump declares Biden’s autopen-signed pardons ‘null and void,’ sparking legal debate

Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has launched an attack on the use of the autopen, a device that reproduces a person’s signature, declaring that pardons signed by former President Joe Biden with the tool are invalid. His move has set the stage for a legal showdown over the legitimacy of executive orders and presidential pardons authorised using the device, the Washington Post reported.

Questioning Biden’s use of the autopen

Trump’s latest claims come amid growing scrutiny from conservative groups regarding Biden’s use of the autopen, a long-standing tool used by US presidents to sign documents remotely. Trump suggested, without evidence, that Biden’s aides had been using the device without his knowledge, effectively making decisions in his place.

“It looked like we had an autopen for a president,” Trump told reporters late Sunday night. “Did he even know what he was doing?” He went on to claim that documents signed by the device—including pardons for officials involved in the January 6 investigation—should be considered illegitimate.

Biden’s pardons under fire

At the heart of the dispute are Biden’s last-minute pardons before leaving office, including those granted to members of the Joint Select Committee that investigated Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection. Trump declared those pardons “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT” in a post on Truth Social.

Senator Adam Schiff (D-California), one of the most prominent members of the January 6 committee, responded to Trump’s claim, stating, “The members of the Jan. 6 Committee are all proud of our work. Your threats will not intimidate us. Or silence us.”

Legal precedent and historical use of the autopen

Despite Trump’s insistence that autopen-signed documents are invalid, legal experts point to past US Justice Department rulings that support their legitimacy. A 2005 opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush found that a president does not need to physically sign a bill for it to become law.

While Bush never used the autopen to sign legislation, Presidents Barack Obama and Biden did on multiple occasions, including for crucial spending bills and extensions of federal programs. White House officials confirmed in 2024 that Biden used the device to sign a short-term extension of funding for the Federal Aviation Administration while traveling.

The growing debate over presidential authority

The controversy over Biden’s autopen usage gained traction following a report from The Oversight Project, a conservative research arm of the Heritage Foundation. The group has questioned whether Biden personally authorised all documents bearing his signature and is considering hiring handwriting experts to challenge the authenticity of specific documents.