A law expert has said Donald Trump cannot revoke the pardons, executive orders, or proclamations made by president Joe Biden.
Trump has insisted that Biden’s use of an autopen to sign off on executive orders during his time in office makes his legal decisions null. This is not the case, according to Eric A. Baldwin, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford Law School, who told The Mirror US that a sitting president cannot simply “invalidate” the acts of a previous incumbent.
Baldwin said, “There is no legal basis for the idea that a president can invalidate a predecessor’s actions simply because they were signed with an autopen.” There is legal basis, however, to go against Trump’s desire to revoke Biden’s orders.
The Stanford Law School alumni added, “Constitutional law does not give a new president the power to retroactively void pardons, executive orders, or proclamations. Pardons are constitutionally final once granted.”
The United States v. Klein was cited by the outlet as an example of how the legality of a law signed into order by a former president cannot be overturned, not least because of using an autopen.
Baldwin also pointed out that the autopen Biden used was also used by former presidents, including George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and even Trump.
He added, “Presidents have used mechanical or proxy signature devices going back for at least 50 years. Modern practice rests on a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo/opinion from 2005 which concluded that the president may lawfully direct an autopen to sign legislation and that such signatures carry full legal effect. No court has rejected this view.”
“The Court made clear that neither Congress nor the executive can manipulate the effect of valid pardons after the fact. Once a pardon has been issued, its legal consequences are final and cannot be undone or reversed.”
Baldwin confirmed Trump could not just revoke an order, but must write a new written order to replace the outgoing one. He explained, “To replace or rescind an executive order, the president must issue a new written order.”
“To unwind regulations, the administration must follow the procedures in the Administrative Procedure Act, including notice and comment and a reasoned explanation for any change.”
A post to Truth Social from Trump saw the president remain adamant that he would rescind orders signed into law by Joe Biden should they have been signed with an “unauthorized” autopen.
He wrote, “Any and all Documents, Proclamations, Executive Orders, Memorandums, or Contracts, signed by Order of the now infamous and unauthorized ‘AUTOPEN,’ within the Administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr., are hereby null, void, and of no further force or effect.”
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