{"id":2393559,"date":"2025-01-22T07:37:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T12:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-and-trump-back-to-back-pardons-give-congress-heartburn\/"},"modified":"2025-01-22T07:38:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T12:38:33","slug":"biden-and-trump-back-to-back-pardons-give-congress-heartburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-and-trump-back-to-back-pardons-give-congress-heartburn\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden and Trump back-to-back pardons give Congress heartburn"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-and-trump-back-to-back-pardons-give-congress-heartburn%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2393559&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a dramatic political turn,President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump issued \u200dcontroversial pardons within 24 hours of each other,igniting fierce criticism from both parties. Biden&#8217;s last-minute pardons included several \u200cfamily members and notable figures such as\u2064 Dr. Anthony Fauci,\u200c prompting backlash from Republicans who labeled it \u2064an abuse \u2064of power. Trump&#8217;s response came shortly \u200cafter, as he pardoned participants in the\u2064 January 6 Capitol riot, including those who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-media-outlets-that-gave-a-pass-to-black-lives-matter-and-antifa-violence\/\" title=\"The Media Outlets That Gave A Pass To Black Lives Matter And Antifa Violence\">assaulted police officers<\/a>, further complicating the political landscape and raising concerns over the expansion of presidential pardoning authority.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers expressed\u200d dismay, with\u200b some Republicans feeling his \u200bactions undermine\u200d support for law \u2063enforcement, while others criticized \u2063Biden for setting a troubling precedent. the pardons \u200chighlighted the contentious nature of the issue and sparked discussions about the need for potential constitutional amendments to reform the pardon process\u2014though such changes would <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">require substantial bipartisan support<\/a>.\u200b Amidst\u200d the\u200c political\u200b fallout, \u2062both parties\u200d grappled with their respective strategies and messages, reflecting ongoing divisions in Congress.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Biden and Trump back-to-back pardons give Congress heartburn<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1941470\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Within 24 hours, President <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a> and former President <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Joe Biden<\/a> issued sweeping pardons that left both parties steamed and pointing fingers as to who pushed their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pardons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">pardon<\/a> authority too far.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In the minutes before his presidency ended on Monday, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3293098\/biden-pardons-family-members-last-minute\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">preemptively pardoned several family members<\/a> who were targets of a House GOP investigation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3292509\/biden-issues-preemptive-pardons-fauci-jan-6-committee-members\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">as well as<\/a> Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House Jan. 6 committee, and others.<\/p>\n<p>The final acts prompted severe backlash from Republicans, who called the moves an abuse of power, and even some Democrats, who said it set a bad precedent.<\/p>\n<p>However, later on Monday, one of Trump&rsquo;s first presidential acts was to grant a sweeping pardon to rioters who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including those who violently attacked police.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;&#8203;&#8203;These people have already served a long period of time and I made a decision to give a pardon,&rdquo; Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/cspan\/status\/1881835814155399372\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said<\/a> to reporters on Tuesday. &ldquo;Joe Biden gave a pardon yesterday to a lot of criminals. &hellip; You should be asking that question.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The back-and-forth pardons gave several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle whiplash and proof the authority had been overextended.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The norms for giving pardons have been degraded. Not good for our country,&rdquo; Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To change the pardon power, an amendment to the Constitution is needed &mdash; and that would be difficult given the narrow GOP majorities, as it requires two-thirds support in both chambers to begin the process. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This place has a hard time getting into 60, I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re gonna get to 75 anytime soon, but look &mdash; at the end of the day, we have to elect the right leaders, President Trump&rsquo;s going to do some great things,&rdquo; Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Republicans assert they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">support law enforcement<\/a> but point fingers at Biden<\/h2>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s pardon of Jan. 6 rioters was one of several policy decisions he vowed to enact immediately upon entering the White House &mdash; but not all Republicans, who now hold a trifecta, think it was the right move.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed to see that, and I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us,&rdquo; Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said, referring to the several Capitol Police officers who were injured or killed during the Jan. 6 riots.<\/p>\n<p>Some Republicans hesitated to take a side on the issue, instead offering their support for law enforcement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. James Lanford (R-OK) said he thinks &ldquo;if you attack a police officer, that&rsquo;s a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that.&rdquo; Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he disagrees with pardoning &ldquo;anybody who was convicted of a violent crime, particularly police officers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is up for reelection this year, said it&rsquo;s wrong to assault anybody, &ldquo;but certainly to assault an officer.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a big &lsquo;Back the Blue&rsquo; guy,&rdquo; Cassidy said.<\/p>\n<p>However, some Republicans, like Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), are blaming Biden for expanding the use of pardons in a &ldquo;massive way.&rdquo; The power is granted to the president under the Constitution and applies to most offenses except impeachment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Obviously, we knew all along President Trump would exercise it, like most presidents have. And he did,&rdquo; Thune said.<\/p>\n<p>Following Biden&rsquo;s controversial decision to pardon his son, Hunter, who was found guilty of federal tax fraud and firearms charges, Democrats and Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/12\/04\/biden-hunter-pardons-clemency-assange-snowden\">re-upped requests<\/a>. Biden granted several, and he holds the presidential record for the most pardons and commuted sentences.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a strong ally of Trump&rsquo;s, did say he would have preferred to see a case-by-case basis for Trump pardoning the rioters.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But then I think when President Biden pardoned the Jan. 6 committee for whatever reason and his entire family for whatever reason, suddenly it looks like there&rsquo;s a lot to be concerned about,&rdquo; Cramer said. &ldquo;It seemed much more appropriate for Donald Trump to join him in just sort of clearing the entire deck, and we can move forward now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) does not think Trump&rsquo;s pardons should reflect anything regarding how Republicans respect law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;President Biden widened the pardon authority,&rdquo; Capito said. &ldquo;This president&rsquo;s using the pardon authority. We&rsquo;re looking forward and beyond to other policy issues.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said her overall view is it is a &ldquo;terrible time for our justice system,&rdquo; given Trump&rsquo;s pardons of violent assaulters but Biden &ldquo;preemptively&rdquo; pardoning family members, as well.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never seen the pardon system in my memory being used in this manner by an outgoing president and an incoming president. &hellip; I just think this erodes public confidence, but the pardon power is the fundamental constitutional power of the president,&rdquo; Collins said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GOP asks for equal attention on Biden&rsquo;s pardons<\/h2>\n<p>Some Republicans took issue with the fact that all the attention has been placed on Trump&rsquo;s Jan. 6 pardons instead of Biden&rsquo;s. Bacon and Collins both pointed to Biden&rsquo;s commutation of Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents and has been in prison for over five decades.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s asking me about Jan. 6, but none of you guys are asking about the Biden pardons,&rdquo; Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said when asked about Trump&rsquo;s sweeping pardon of the rioters.<\/p>\n<p>Other GOP lawmakers said there needs to be an &ldquo;equal application of justice.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Some of these people have been in jail for a long time,&rdquo; Moreno said. &ldquo;Jan. 6 was a long time ago, and they&rsquo;ve been in jail with their due process rights taken away.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told reporters that Trump&rsquo;s pardons were a &ldquo;campaign promise&rdquo; &mdash; something Biden wouldn&rsquo;t understand.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Look, he talked about that during the campaign. Joe Biden said he wouldn&rsquo;t pardon a lot of the people that he did pardon yesterday,&rdquo; Scalise said. &ldquo;So, you know, two different styles, obviously &mdash; Joe Biden said he wouldn&rsquo;t do things that he actually did. President Trump&rsquo;s a man of his word.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Some Democrats are willing to acknowledge that Biden&rsquo;s pardons, particularly of his family, may have been an overstep. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) argued, however, that Trump&rsquo;s pardon of Jan. 6 rioters is &ldquo;much worse.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I mean, in some cases, Capitol police officers died, and Donald Trump feels like he has the right to let them out of prison? I mean, due process, convicted, sentenced &mdash; it&rsquo;s outrageous,&rdquo; Kelly said.<\/p>\n<p>When asked if Republicans are correct that Biden laid out a precedent for Trump to follow, Kelly said, &ldquo;Tell me which one of the people that Biden pardoned beat up a Capitol police officer?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re talking about criminals [who] violently attacked cops. I thought this guy was supposed to be the law and order president,&rdquo; the Arizona senator added, referring to Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said he didn&rsquo;t like Trump or Biden&rsquo;s pardons, arguing they &ldquo;break all sorts of precedents and norms.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the problem, I think, with President Biden&rsquo;s pardons, is what credibility now do we have to talk about pardons that Trump may issue,&rdquo; Moskowitz said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the conundrum we find ourselves in.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But other Democrats are taking a firm stance against Trump&rsquo;s decision to pardon rioters.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Say what you will about President Biden pardoning his family and other members of Congress, but I thought we had a basic idea that those who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pelosi-says-impeachment-and-25th-amendment-resolutions-will-be-brought-to-the-house-floor-starting-monday\/\" title=\"Pelosi Says Impeachment and 25th Amendment Resolutions Will Be Brought to the House Floor Starting Monday\">attacked law enforcement officers<\/a> would not be given a pardon,&rdquo; Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I even asked these questions of the Judiciary Committee hearing of the new attorney general, Pam Bondi, and she said we got to stand behind every <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-secretary-of-state-investigating-voter-registration-group-run-by-democrat-raphael-warnock\/\" title=\"Georgia Secretary Of State Investigating Voter Registration Group Run By Democrat Raphael Warnock\">law enforcement officer<\/a>,&rdquo; Durbin said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think those pardons last night by President Trump did that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>Hailey Bullis contributed to this report. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1941470\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1941470\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biden and Trump\u2019s pardons spark Congressional outrage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2393560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP25021073847531.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3620,4402,12559,3634],"class_list":["post-2393559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-biden","tag-congress","tag-pardons","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP25021073847531.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2393559"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2393564,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393559\/revisions\/2393564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2393560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2393559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2393559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2393559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}