Trump Orders the Attorney General to Investigate Biden's Autopen Signatures and 'Cognitive Decline'

On June 4, 2025, Trump signed a presidential memorandum titled 'Reviewing Certain Presidential Actions' directing the Attorney General and the White House Counsel, in consultation with other agencies, to investigate his predecessor's use of an autopen. The memorandum asserts that aides used the device to execute presidential documents while concealing Joe Biden's cognitive condition, calls that 'an unconstitutional wielding of the power of the Presidency,' and directs officials to determine which of more than 1,200 presidential documents were signed by autopen and who authorized them. It also directs an inquiry into whether aides coordinated to shield information about Biden's health, and questions the validity of actions taken in his name, including judicial appointments and pardons.

The memorandum turns federal investigative machinery toward a former president's official acts on the theory that they may be voidable. Prior Justice Department legal opinions and outside constitutional scholars have concluded that autopen signatures are valid and that the Constitution imposes no personal-signature requirement on pardons. A memorandum cannot by itself nullify a completed executive act.

Biden responded that the decisions were his own. The review remained open through 2025; in December, Trump asserted he was terminating Biden actions signed by autopen, a claim lawyers disputed.