Presidential Pardons

Article II gives the President power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. The power covers only federal crimes, not state offenses or civil liability, and it cannot be overridden by Congress or reviewed by courts. It includes full pardons, which forgive a crime, commutations, which shorten a sentence, reprieves, which delay punishment, remission of fines, and amnesty for whole groups. A pardon may be granted before charges are filed, as Gerald Ford did for Richard Nixon in 1974.

Most clemency requests go through the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the Justice Department, which reviews petitions and recommends action, though presidents are free to bypass it. Andrew Johnson pardoned most former Confederates, Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam-era draft evaders in 1977, and Barack Obama commuted more than 1,700 sentences, largely for nonviolent drug offenses. The Supreme Court has said accepting a pardon carries an imputation of guilt, though it does not require an admission.

Pardons have repeatedly drawn criticism when granted to political allies or family. Bill Clinton's pardon of the financier Marc Rich in 2001, Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter in December 2024 and his preemptive pardons of officials and family in January 2025, and Donald Trump's pardons and commutations for about 1,500 people charged in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, issued on his first day back in office, each provoked sharp debate. Whether a President can pardon himself has never been tested.