WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Donald J Trump announced on Friday, November 28, that all documents signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen—estimated by the administration at approximately 92% of Biden-era executive actions and other official instruments—are “hereby terminated and of no further force or effect.”
In a statement posted to Truth Social and republished by the official White House Rapid Response account, President Trump asserted that autopen use is unlawful unless explicitly authorized by the president himself and claimed that many of Biden’s signatures were applied without his direct involvement. The president further stated that any assertion by Biden to the contrary could subject him to perjury charges.
Trump has already revoked 97 Biden executive orders through formal processes. Pardons, regulations, and other instruments signed by the autopen deemed invalid by President Trump are expected to face immediate court challenges.
Although no indictments nor Department of Justice (DOJ) referrals have yet to be announced, the DOJ has an active review based on the House Oversight Committee’s autopen report titled, “The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House.” The findings in the report accuse former President Joe Biden’s aides of fraudulently or illegally using the autopen for executive actions, pardons, and other documents without Biden’s direct authorization or awareness, amid his active cognitive decline.
Jeff Zients, White House Chief of Staff under President Biden, testified under oath that he approved autopen use for pardons via telephone and email without direct confirmation from Biden and that there was no set protocol for use of the autopen.
Zients aide, Rosa Po, for example sent an email on Zients’s behalf stating “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons. Thanks, JZ.”
Zients, under oath did testify that no Executive Order, Presidential Memorandum, pardons, and clemencies were signed by the autopen without President Biden’s knowledge. He admitted to not knowing who within the White House operated the autopen.
When asked under oath on September 18, 2025, “Do you know who the people who were actually — people or person — who actually operated the autopen were,” Zients’s response was, “I do not.”
Zients admitted that the President’s son, Hunter Biden, was inappropriately involved in clemency decisions. According to Zients, Hunter Biden participated in “some of the pardon discussions,” apparently including some discussions about pardoning members of the Biden family.
The only document President Joe Biden admitted to signing without the autopen is the clemency warrant for his son, Hunter Biden.
In 2005, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued an opinion stating that autopen use is constitutional under Article I, Section 7, as long as the president personally directs it—treating the mechanical signature as equivalent to a hand signature. However, no court has ruled on this issue.
Legislative bills passed by Congress and signed into law cannot be unilaterally “terminated” by President Trump without new congressional action or successful legal challenges.
According to President Trump and the House Oversight Committee’s report, all executive orders, bills, and appointments signed by Biden using the autopen are considered at risk of termination. So, what is at risk of termination because of autopen-gate:
- All pardons and commutations issued in the final weeks of Biden’s presidency excluding only the one for Hunter Biden—96% of 4,250 acts of clemency. These would involve the following: James B. Biden (President’s brother), Sara Jones Biden (James Biden’s wife), Valerie Biden Owens (President’s sister), John T. Owens (Valerie Biden Owens’ husband), Francis W. Biden (President’s brother), Dr. Anthony S. Fauci (Former NIAID Director and COVID-19 advisor), Gen. Mark A. Milley (Retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), and January 6 Select Committee Members, Staff, and Witnesses that include Congressional Members: Bennie Thompson (D-MS, Chair), Liz Cheney (R-WY, Vice Chair), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Elaine Luria (D-VA).
- Judicial appointments: Approximately 234 Biden-appointed federal judges, including 8 to the 9th Circuit, are at risk of termination. Trump has prioritized reversing “activist” judges.
- Immigration judges dismissed by Biden may be reinstated and those appointed by Biden, terminated.
- Agency and Board appointments such as those to labor boards, independent federal boards, etc.
- Executive branch appointments: Such as ambassadors, agency heads, etc.
- Various Executive Orders.
Author: Mario Lotmore
