Autopen Gate: The Constitutional Crisis On The Horizon

Politics is a tricky beast, and whether you love or hate the guy in office, they have rules they’re supposed to follow. One of those rules is that they must abide by their duties. One is that they have a constitutional duty to sign bills into law.

Enter the Autopen, a nifty little gadget that wasn’t around when the Constitution was signed, or for that matter, when it was last amended. The million-dollar question is whether the autopen violates the Constitution. And yes, there are problems with the autopen regarding President Biden.

President Biden was arguably diminished. In the summer of 2024, he participated in a disastrous debate with future second-term President Donald Trump, and the Democratic Party fell apart. Official reports from investigators labeled President Biden as a well-meaning, older gentleman with a bad memory. It seemed that even the authorities considering charges against him felt as if he were too far gone to participate in his defense.

Rumors and allegations about his mental capacity were flying from early 2021 on, and many perceived them to be political. Then, as time passed, more and more people in the press and those watching from home would notice the changes. This was not the Joe Biden we saw beside Barack Obama.

Now, as more information comes to light, there are plenty of stories coming from his inner circle and those closer to the White House that indicate they covered up his health and mental capacity issues. Books are being written, interviews are being given, and it appears pretty clear that the Democratic Party ignored and lied about the president's issues.

So, who was signing his name? It’s a valid question that is worthy of exploring, particularly by a government that will use transparency to go after the things that were done during the prior administration. But there’s more to consider. What exactly was signed, by whom, and for what reasons?

Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2 of the Constitution, or what’s called the Presentment Clause, lays out the procedure for a bill to become law. It states:

Every bill which has passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approves, he shall sign, but if not, he shall return it.

-United States Constitution

The wording is pretty specific, and “he shall sign it,” is one of the key issues that has brought the use of the autopen under fire.

Questions:

• Is this a delegable duty or a non-delegable duty? Some believe the duty of the President to sign a bill into law is a personal, non-delegable act of the President.
• Is the use of an autopen by someone else, even with prior approval, outsourcing a constitutional duty?
• The autopen is usable without the President being physically present. Therefore, it could be used without his knowledge or his intent to approve of a law, order, or executive action by his office.
• What are the legalities of other orders or executive actions signed outside of the President’s presence, and has it been used without Joe Biden, or any other President's knowledge?

Joe Biden was elected to the office of President. The use of the autopen may have been used by persons outside of his knowledge, or may have been used intentionally without his intent, and for the gain of others. It is a slippery slope, and one that may have created a series of investigatable issues as well as a very real constitutional crisis, as there will be some forthcoming decisions that will now have to be made. With President Biden suffering from a serious cancer diagnosis, and already being labeled as someone with a bad memory due to his age, he may not be a credible witness to support the actions, whether they were what the actors say they are or not.

Prediction:

The courts will now be forced to weigh in on the autopen, and likely, many of the actions signed in the Oval Office without any coverage or records of Joe Biden being the one to actually sign them.

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