Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday the Justice Department is reviewing former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to issue pardons, a move that immediately intensified Republican scrutiny of the preemptive pardons Biden granted to high-profile allies as he prepared to leave office.
“My team is reviewing the Biden administration’s reported use of autopen for pardons,” Bondi wrote on X. “Thank you to @RepJamesComer for his GREAT work on this. We look forward to working alongside @GOPoversight to deliver accountability for the American people.”
My team has already initiated a review of the Biden administration’s reported use of autopen for pardons.@RepJamesComer’s new information is extremely helpful, and his leadership on this issue is invaluable. We’ll continue working with @GOPoversight to deliver accountability…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) October 28, 2025
Bondi’s announcement came hours after House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) asked the DOJ to review all executive actions taken during Biden’s presidency, arguing that dozens of clemency decisions may be void if Biden did not personally authorize them.
There is no legal issue tied to the president’s mere use of an autopen, despite the fact that Biden utilized the device more regularly than President Donald Trump or any of his predecessors. Rather, the committee’s report alleged it was Biden’s staff, not Biden, using the autopen to apply his signature during what they say was a steep cognitive decline for the former president, and that no clear paper trails are available to show that Biden properly consented to using the mechanical signature device.
After the committee published its report, Republicans focused on Biden’s controversial last-minute preemptive pardons in January, including those issued to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House Jan. 6 committee. Biden previously said the pardons were intended to prevent “politically motivated prosecutions” under an incoming Trump administration. But GOP lawmakers seized on Bondi’s review Tuesday as a possible pathway to revisiting the former president’s actions, which marked the first time any commander in chief pardoned people who had not stood trial or even faced charges for any alleged crimes.
“The new report … calls into question President Biden’s pardons, including Anthony Fauci’s,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) posted to X.
The new report from @GOPoversight calls into question President Biden’s pardons, including Anthony Fauci’s. It’s time for the courts to decide which pardons are valid and which ones are not.https://t.co/GUCXIAntOl
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 28, 2025
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) added, “If the autopen pardons are done away with, Anthony Fauci needs to be prosecuted.”
If the autopen pardons are done away with, Anthony Fauci needs to be prosecuted.
There is no excuse.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(@RepMTG) October 28, 2025
Democrats slammed the committee Republicans’ report as a partisan misuse of DOJ resources. Ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA) called the investigation a “sham,” noting that 14 former senior aides testified Biden personally authorized every action. A Biden spokesperson said there was “no conspiracy, no cover-up, and no wrongdoing,” urging Republicans to “end the government shutdown instead of relitigating Biden’s presidency.”
HOUSE DEMOCRATS PAN BIDEN AUTOPEN REPORT AS DISTRACTION FROM GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Legal experts say unwinding the bulk of Biden’s commutations and pardons would likely face steep constitutional barriers. William & Mary law professor Jonathan Adler said actions taken by a president are “presumptively valid” absent evidence they were unauthorized, adding that the Oversight report “doesn’t identify a crime or a specific unauthorized act,” complicating any DOJ inquiry.
The DOJ has not said whether Bondi’s review could lead to a criminal inquiry, a policy audit, or no action at all.