By Jim Geraghty
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
A reader of the Wall Street Journal writes in to the
paper, urging the country to adopt a constitutional amendment that would bar
pardons and executive orders between Election Day and the inauguration.
I could see the argument that a complete ban on executive
orders for more than two months would be too much of an impediment to the
president performing his duties. For example, Joe Biden issued an executive order closing federal agencies on
January 9 for a national day of mourning for former president Jimmy Carter.
Biden signed some executive orders declaring orders of succession in the
positions of National Cyber Director, Office of Management and Budget, and
Departments of Justice, Treasury, Homeland Security and Agriculture. Not every
last-minute action of Biden has been bad, or even all that consequential.
But a constitutional ban on pardons between Election Day
and the inauguration sounds pretty appealing right now. (Biden is reportedly
considering preemptive pardons to prominent critics of President-elect
Trump, individuals who are not currently being either investigated or
charged with crimes. This is akin to a get-out-of-jail free card from
Monopoly.)
If a president wants to make a particularly controversial
pardon, let him do so in a way ensuring either he, or his party’s successor,
will face the consequences in the form of the voters’ judgment.
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