Inside The Autopen Uproar: Why Trump Says Biden's Orders Don't Count | Explained

Last Updated:November 29, 2025, 11:34 IST

Trump has often sought to drum up outrage over Biden’s alleged use of autopen to sign pardons and executive orders, accusing him of being “too senile” to govern while in power

A framed photo of US President Donald Trump hangs next to a picture of an autopen to represent former President Joe Biden in White House. (AFP)

In a legally uncertain move, US President Donald Trump on Friday renewed his favourite attack line against his predecessor and said all documents signed by autopen under Joe Biden were “terminated". “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect," Trump said on social media.

The US President has often sought to drum up outrage over Biden’s alleged use of autopen to sign pardons, executive orders and other documents, accusing the latter of being “too senile" to govern while in power.

“I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally."

Various autopen systems have been used by previous presidents, but Trump has said their use under Biden proves the then-president was mentally incapacitated and not in control of the White House.

Biden was 82 when he left office, while Trump is 79 and due to leave office in January 2029. In his last days in office, Biden issued pardons for people targeted by Trump, including Biden’s own son, lawmakers who probed Trump, a military general who had criticised Trump and the country’s top Covid-19 expert.

News18 takes a look at the controversy, how the autopen came to be used and what Trump’s latest move means.

What Is An Autopen?

Essentially a robotised pen, an autopen is a mechanical device that replicates a person’s signature using real ink. According to The Guardian, the device has been used by multiple US presidents over decades, dating as far back as the early 19th century.

The Justice Department in 2005 said the President does not need to sign a bill by hand and can direct an official “to affix the President’s signature to such a Bill, for example by autopen".

In 2011, The New York Times reported that Barack Obama had become the first president to sign a bill by autopen while in Europe. Paper versions are still sometimes flown to the president for signing, AFP reported.

Why Has Trump Renewed His Attack?

Under Biden’s presidency, the autopen was used to sign many executive orders and directives though there’s no public record of how many documents were signed by the autopen. However, according to Al Jazeera, the exact scale of use—and whether each order reflected Biden’s deliberate, informed approval—has become a matter of heated political debate.

Critics from Team Trump argue that widespread autopen use during Biden’s tenure amounts to delegation of presidential power in a way that undermines accountability.

For his part, Biden has defended his record. According to The Guardian, in 2025 he stated that he “made every decision" and that use of the autopen only reflected convenience or practicality, not a shirking of his responsibilities.

However, his political opponents have built the perception that the autopen might have been used to bypass proper oversight or to rubber-stamp orders without direct presidential involvement.

On Friday, while cancelling the orders, Trump also threatened legal consequences, saying if Biden claims he personally authorised the signatures, then he would face perjury charges. In his public message, the US President framed the move as rectifying what he described as an illegal delegation of presidential sign-off.

The Legal View

A majority of legal analysts remain sceptical of Trump’s plan, mainly because autopen signatures have long been accepted as legitimate under US law, provided the President authorised their use. The Guardian explains that by that logic, simply being “not personally present" to sign doesn’t automatically invalidate a document.

More importantly, there is no clear legal mechanism that allows a new president to retroactively annul all executive orders of a predecessor simply on the basis that they used an autopen. Also, past presidents (from Jefferson to recent ones) have used autopen routinely, undermining the idea that its use automatically signals illicit delegation or improper governance.

What’s At Stake Behind The Row?

Though the idea is far-fetched, if accepted, Trump’s move could throw into question the legal validity of many past executive orders and directives, potentially upending policies, regulations, and pardons enacted under Biden’s presidency.

The controversy also illustrates how administrative tools like the autopen can be reframed as symbols of deeper concerns about mental fitness, transparency, and accountability.

If courts or Congress don’t resolve the dispute, the uncertainty could undermine public confidence in the stability of US executive-branch actions.

(With AFP, AP inputs)

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