Columbia News

Senator Eric Schmitt, a U.S. Senator from Missouri, raised concerns on September 9, 2025, about President Joe Biden’s approach to granting presidential pardons and the delegation of related powers to staff members.

In a series of posts on his official X account, Schmitt stated: "We already know that Biden didn't individually approve specific pardons. Instead, he approved broad, vague categories of pardons and left it to his radical leftist staffers to fill in the details." (September 9, 2025)

He continued by referencing internal White House communications at the start of Biden’s term: "At the beginning of the Biden administration, his staff knew pardons required an 'original hand signature.' They even said so in a memo to Biden. That makes sense. The Constitutions gives the President—and no one else—the power to grant pardons and clemency." (September 9, 2025)

Schmitt also detailed actions taken to investigate these procedures further: "To fully understand Biden's unconstitutional delegation of the pardon power to his leftist staffers through the autopen, I sent records requests to obtain Biden White House documents. Related records were just released--and they are shocking." (September 9, 2025)

The U.S. Constitution grants the president sole authority over federal pardons and clemency decisions; this authority cannot be delegated to others within or outside the executive branch.

Recent scrutiny has emerged over presidential use of devices such as autopens for signing official documents—a practice that has generated legal debate about whether such signatures meet constitutional requirements for certain acts.

Senator Schmitt’s comments come amid ongoing discussions regarding executive authority and administrative practices in recent presidential administrations.