A Republican has joined an effort to block the power of the presidential pardon, backing a constitutional amendment on the matter.
The Democrat behind the initiative, Rep. Johnny Olszewski (MD), announced that Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) has joined the effort. “On Presidents Day, we’re reminded: no president is above the law,” he wrote on X. “Proud to have [Bacon] join this bipartisan effort — because safeguarding democracy shouldn’t be partisan. When pardons are abused to protect criminals and political allies, Congress has a duty to act.”
Upon introducing the Pardon Integrity Act in December, Olszewski argued that presidents of “both parties have abused the pardon power to reward political allies and protect family members, undermining justice and public trust.”
The amendment would “grant Congress the authority to reject pardons and commutations put forth by a President, now and in the future,” Olszewski’s office explained. According to the proposal, 20 members of the House and 5 members of the Senate could launch a process to block a pardon. Congress would have 60 days to reject a pardon with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers.
At the time he introduced the amendment, President Trump pardoned Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández.
“Presidential pardons are an important constitutional authority, but like all powers held by the executive branch, these authorities benefit from the appropriate checks and balances the Constitution envisioned,” Bacon said in a statement to Axios. “Across multiple administrations, we’ve seen legitimate questions raised about how this authority has been used at the same time, the ability of Congress to provide oversight has weakened.”
