House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is diving headfirst into a controversy that could shake the foundations of executive power with an investigation into President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen for thousands of pardons.
Fox News reported that Comer’s probe, now in its final stages, centers on whether Biden’s mass clemency actions—totaling over 4,200, including a record-setting 2,500 commutations on a single day—were legally sound, especially given concerns from within Biden’s own administration about the autopen process.
As Biden’s term wound down, questions started bubbling up inside the White House about how these executive actions were being handled.
On Jan. 16, White House staff secretary Stef Feldman was already seeking answers, emailing colleagues to clarify when Biden personally approved an executive order she was tasked to sign via autopen.
“When did we get [Biden's] approval of this?” Feldman asked a question that cuts to the heart of whether the president was fully in the loop on these decisions.
That skepticism wasn’t just internal gossip—it’s a red flag that even Biden’s team wasn’t entirely comfortable with the process.
By Jan. 17, Biden had approved nearly 2,500 commutations, the most ever in one day, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) was sounding alarms about the lack of proper vetting.
DOJ ethics lawyer Bradley Weinsheimer penned a memo on Jan. 18, lamenting that his team wasn’t given a fair chance to review clemency candidates despite repeated requests, even noting a murderer among those granted relief.
“I have no idea if the president was aware of these backgrounds,” Weinsheimer wrote, a chilling admission that suggests Biden might have been out of the loop on some deeply serious cases.
Adding fuel to the fire, Axios uncovered that a DOJ pardon attorney objected to White House lawyers’ instructions not to seek input from murder victims’ families for several death row inmates whose sentences were commuted, unless those views were already on file.
This directive raises eyebrows—shouldn’t the voices of those most affected by these crimes be heard before such monumental decisions are made?
It’s hard not to see this as a rush job, prioritizing numbers over justice, and it’s no wonder Comer is calling this a “historic scandal.”
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Comer didn’t mince words, stating, “This is a historic scandal with massive repercussions,” while promising accountability as his committee wraps up its investigation with upcoming testimonies from former Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and a closed-door interview with former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre this Friday.
Even President Donald Trump chimed in on Truth Social, blasting what he called “THE BIDEN AUTOPEN SCANDAL” as one of the biggest controversies ever, though some might argue his caps-lock enthusiasm slightly overshadows the nuance of the issue.
While Trump’s rhetoric is predictably fiery, Comer’s push for answers feels like a necessary check on executive overreach—especially when a former Biden staffer’s defense to Fox News Digital that “the pardon power rests with the president” seems to dodge the real question of whether Biden was truly calling the shots or if aides were running the show.
