House Oversight: Biden's Executive Actions 'Illegitimate' With Autopen

The GOP-led House Oversight Committee on Tuesday called on the Justice Department to investigate every executive action taken during the Biden administration, saying it found evidence that some of former President Joe Biden's orders and clemency decisions may have been issued without his personal approval.

In a 91-page report released early Tuesday, the committee said its investigation found no record that Biden authorized several executive actions, including presidential pardons and commutations.

It further said his aides may have used the presidential autopen, a mechanical device that replicates signatures, to sign off on actions "without his knowledge."

"Because of this," the report said, "the Committee deems those actions taken through use of the autopen as void," and it "finds numerous executive actions, particularly clemency actions, taken during the Biden administration were illegitimate."

House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the scope of the issue.

"The Committee requests that you investigate all executive actions taken during the Biden administration to ascertain whether they are duly authorized by the President of the United States," Comer wrote in a letter to Bondi.

The report alleges Biden's aides made key executive decisions on his behalf in the final months of his presidency and failed to properly document his approval.

It also said aides used the autopen to issue pardons and commutations for members of Biden's family and other individuals "without confirmed presidential authorization or proper documentation."

The report was largely compiled over several months before the government shutdown began and is based on interviews with more than a dozen members of Biden's inner circle.

The documentation also includes references to polls about Biden's approval rating, as well as information about his public gaffes in office.

The committee's findings stem from interviews with 14 former Biden staffers.

The report further asks the Justice Department to scrutinize senior aides Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, who invoked the Fifth Amendment during questioning, and to consider whether legal consequences should follow.

Republicans have questioned Biden's use of the autopen since he left office, while Biden and his team have rejected the allegations as unfounded.

"This investigation into baseless claims has confirmed what has been clear from the start: President Biden made the decisions of his presidency. There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, and no wrongdoing," a spokesperson said Tuesday.

"Congressional Republicans should stop focusing on political retribution and instead work to end the government shutdown."

Several aides told investigators that Biden's schedule and pace noticeably slowed over the course of his presidency, according to a person familiar with the private testimony during the congressional hearings this year.

Former Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said the president's decision-making also became slower, noting that policy discussions that once required three meetings eventually took four to reach the same conclusion.

Zients also recounted internal discussions about how to address public concerns over Biden's mental sharpness.

Senior officials, including White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor, talked about whether the president should undergo a cognitive exam, which O'Connor said he would consider.

But even as they described signs of Biden's advancing age, as he was 82 when he left office, some former officials strongly rejected the central premise of the Republican investigation, which is that his staff had effectively usurped the powers of the presidency.

"There was no nefarious conspiracy of any kind among the president's senior staff, and there was certainly no conspiracy to hide the president's mental condition from the American people," longtime Biden adviser Steve Ricchetti told the committee.

Legal scholars note there is no mechanism to revoke presidential clemency once granted.

Biden has previously said he personally approved all pardons and commutations at the end of his presidency, telling The New York Times in July that Republicans were "lying" about his condition and use of the autopen.

The report named former White House staff secretary Neera Tanden as overseeing the autopen process and said Zients approved its use.

It also accused O'Connor of concealing Biden's cognitive decline and referred him to the District of Columbia's medical board for investigation.

Biden withdrew from his reelection campaign last year after a halting debate performance that raised concerns about his health.

The White House and Justice Department are conducting separate reviews of Biden's clemency actions, while President Donald Trump earlier this year ordered a formal inquiry into whether Biden's aides improperly used the autopen during his presidency.

A Justice Department opinion from the George W. Bush era allows the autopen for signing documents, provided the president himself authorizes the action.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.