Washington — President Trump said Friday he is canceling all orders signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen, a mechanical device that reproduces signatures.
“Any document signed” by Biden via the use of an autopen “is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“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,” Mr. Trump said. “Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury.”
Biden signed 162 executive orders during his presidency, according to the American Presidency Project. It’s unclear how many were signed using an autopen, though it’s not unusual for presidents to revoke their predecessor’s directives.
Mr. Trump has already rolled back dozens of Biden’s executive orders. The president rescinded nearly 70 of Biden’s executive orders shortly after he was sworn in on Jan. 20 for his second term and another 19 on March 14, according to the White House.
Mr. Trump previously ordered an investigation into the Biden White House’s use of the autopen to sign presidential documents like pardons, claiming there was a “conspiracy” to “abuse the power of presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline.”
In a July statement, Biden called Mr. Trump’s claims “nothing more than distraction.”
“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden said.
House Republicans released a report last month that was critical of Biden’s autopen use, but did not include clear evidence that his aides conspired to sign laws or other directives without his knowledge.
Presidents have long used an autopen to sign documents. In 2005, the Justice Department under President George W. Bush said the president can legally use an autopen to sign bills into law.
In March, Mr. Trump acknowledged he has also used an autopen, but “only for very unimportant papers.”
