Donald Trump has declared he intends to cancel most of the executive orders signed by Joe Biden, his predecessor as president of the United States.
In a post on social media, Mr Trump claimed baselessly that Mr Biden had not signed off on the orders himself, saying “the radical left lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him” by signing his name using an autopen – a signature machine that has commonly been used by US presidents since the device’s invention.
“The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States,” Mr Trump said, baselessly alleging that it was operated by other people without Biden’s approval and claiming that “approximately 92%” of all executive orders were therefore invalid.
“Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury.”
RM Block
Mr Trump has repeatedly alleged that Mr Biden was addled by the end of his term in office and not the one making decisions. Mr Trump has also claimed many times, without evidence, that the Biden administration officials may have forged their boss’s signature by using the autopen and taken broad actions he was not aware of.
Mr Trump has also obsessively cast doubt on the validity of pardons and other documents that Mr Biden signed with an autopen, even though for decades other presidents have relied on the device to sign key papers. Mr Trump himself has used an autopen in the past.
The sweeping announcement left many questions about how Mr Trump would nullify Mr Biden’s pardons and executive orders, given that US presidents are allowed to use the autopen – and that there has been no concrete evidence of any attempt to bypass Mr Biden’s will at the end of his second term.
Nonetheless, Mr Trump’s post was swiftly celebrated by Republicans.
Oversight Project, a branch of the conservative Heritage Foundation started in 2022 with a mission of “increasing aggressive oversight of the Biden administration”, and which has relentlessly promoted the narrative about Biden’s use of the autopen, thanked Mr Trump in a post on X.
“Thank you President Trump for taking our historic Autopen investigation and findings seriously and ordering your Administration to take action,” the group said.
Congressman James Comer, the Republican chair of the GOP-led House oversight committee, also welcomed Mr Trump’s announcement, writing on X: “I applaud President Trump for deeming President Biden’s autopen actions NULL AND VOID.”
The oversight committee released a report in October on Mr Biden’s use of the autopen that made many sweeping claims but included no concrete evidence that aides conspired to enact policies without Mr Biden’s knowledge or that he was unaware of laws, pardons or executive orders signed in his name.
The report alleged a “cover-up of the president’s cognitive decline” orchestrated by Mr Biden’s inner circle and pushed contested claims that the president’s mental state had declined to such an extent that White House officials were able to enact policies without his knowledge, and focused heavily on the pardons he granted in office, many of which infuriated Donald Trump.
Democrats on the committee denounced the report as a “sham”, highlighting that the report included no evidence to support the allegations. Legal experts have also warned that attempts to void past executive actions could set a problematic precedent, given that so many other presidents have utilised the autopen. – Guardian
