Joe Biden Pardons 'Null and Void,' Ted Cruz Says

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has argued some of the pardons and sentence commutations issued by President Joe Biden before he left office in January 2025 are likely legally "null and void" because they were signed off using an autopen en masse without Biden's explicit consent for each individual.

Newsweek reached out to Cruz and Biden via email and the Department of Justice via an online inquiry form on Thursday for comment outside of normal working hours.

Why It Matters

During his time in office, Biden granted 4,245 acts of clemency, of which 96 percent took place between October 2024 and January 2025.

This covered both convicted criminals and prominent figures who Biden's team believed could be targeted by a Trump White House, including Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

If some of Biden's pardons were not legally valid, it would mean certain individuals could see their commuted sentences reversed, while others could potentially face criminal prosecution.

What To Know

Speaking on his podcast Verdict With Ted Cruz in an episode released on Wednesday, the Texas Republican argued some of Biden's acts of clemency could be invalid because the former president had issued them for broad categories of people, with no evidence he approved them for each individual within these groups.

Cruz cited a New York Times article published this week, which said: "Mr. Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed.

"Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence."

Biden used his clemency powers to reduce the sentences of some nonviolent drug offenders and inmates who were given home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic. According to The New York Times, the then-president outlined the criteria for those he wanted pardoned, with the Bureau of Prisons subsequently providing a list of those who met the requirements.

Citing an aide, The Times said, "rather than ask Mr. Biden to keep signing revised versions, his staff waited and then ran the final version through the autopen, which they saw as a routine procedure."

Biden also commuted the death sentences of 37 federal inmates on death row to life without parole, pardoned his son Hunter, who was facing tax evasion and weapons charges, and preemptively pardoned other members of his family and political figures whom he thought could be targeted by the incoming Trump administration.

The Department of Justice has stated that the president is permitted to use an autopen to sign executive orders, bills into law, or pardons. However, critics such as Cruz contend that Biden didn't individually approve all those included in some of the categories for which he issued clemency, making them legally dubious.

What People Are Saying

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said on his podcast: "I think the Trump White House needs to go through the records...and examine what specifically has a paper trail that showed Biden signed off on the specific action, and those that there is no paper trail, that there is no evidence...those are null and void.

"Those have no legal force and my recommendation to [Attorney General] Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice is they should look specifically at the most vulnerable and devise and implement a legal challenge to challenge these and make clear that an unelected aide running an autopen does not have the power to grant a pardon under the United States Constitution."

Former President Joe Biden told The New York Times of Republicans who say that his aides abused the autopen: "They're liars. They know it. They know, for certain. I mean, this is—look, what they, they've had a pretty good thing going here. They've done so badly. They've lied so consistently about almost everything they're doing."

He added, "I made every decision," and said the autopen was only used for his signature because "we're talking about a whole lot of people."

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether the Trump Justice Department will seek to challenge some of Biden's pardons and sentence commutations as illegal, and if so, how the cases will be resolved in court.