Senate Judiciary Hearing Probes ‘Auto‑Pen’ Use and Calls to Strengthen 25th Amendment Safeguards

The Senate Judiciary Committee examined whether White House staff used an electronic “auto‑pen” to affix President Joe Biden’s signature to orders, clemencies and other documents without his explicit assent and discussed possible reforms to the Twenty‑fifth Amendment and White House recordkeeping.

Chairman Chuck Grassley opened the hearing by saying it would examine “competency, corruption, and cover up within the Biden administration,” and noted documents he has released alleging political “weaponization” of law enforcement. Ranking Member Dick Durbin said the committee has a duty to oversee the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security and criticized the majority’s choice of hearing topic.

The committee heard testimony from three witnesses: John C. Harrison, James Madison Distinguished Professor and research professor at the University of Virginia School of Law; Theo Wald, visiting fellow for law and technology policy at The Heritage Foundation; and Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary. Harrison told the panel that “Congress can require that when the president indicates that his signature is to be affixed to a document without manual signature, that decision by the president be documented and be made part of the public record.”

Wald told senators his organization’s review identified…