Introduction
America experienced a constitutional crisis during the presidency of Joseph R. Biden. Ever since The Oversight Project discovered the Biden White House’s prolific use of an autopen to execute core presidential documents, investigations in and out of government have uncovered key facts detailing the pervasiveness of the Biden Administration’s disregard for the Constitution. But until now, there has not been a comprehensive accounting of the scale and scope of the Biden White House’s autopen use.
This post presents a comprehensive analysis of the scope, scale, frequency, and timing of autopen use by the Biden White House to sign documents exercising key Presidential powers.1 Our findings are not only alarming but should serve as a roadmap for Congressional and Executive Branch investigators to identify particular uses of the autopen to focus on.
Key Findings and Methodology
- The Oversight Project reviewed approximately 1,597 enrolled copies of documents bearing President Biden’s signature. These documents include all enrolled copies of signed bills, pardon warrants, commutation warrants, Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations.
- We found that 88.3% (846/958) of documents excluding public laws (Executive Orders, Pardons, Commutations, and Proclamations) were signed with an autopen.
- We found that 82.2% (696/846) of all autopen-signed Executive Orders, Pardons, Commutations and Proclamations, were signed while Biden was in D.C.
- The Biden White House first deployed the autopen on day 5 of the Biden Administration to sign a proclamation.
- The Oversight Project has identified four different autopen signatures that were used by the Biden White House.
- President Biden appears to have hand signed all but one bill into law. President Biden’s signature varies significantly across the enrolled bills and appears to deteriorate as his cognitive abilities declined throughout his Presidency.
- Autopen use for documents increased throughout the Administration as President Biden’s mental and physical acuity declined.
- The Biden White House had widespread use of the autopen while President Biden was physically in Washington, D.C. and was thus presumably available to hand sign important documents.
The Four Autopen Signatures
The Oversight Project has discovered at least 4 different autopen signatures in use throughout the Biden Administration. We have reproduced images of the signatures and outlined the approximate dates they were in use and what documents they were used to sign below. We identified the autopen signatures Autopen A–D based on when we identified the autopen signature in our investigation. They do not necessarily align with the date in which they were in use.
Dates in use: May 13, 2022 – December 12, 2024
Documents Signed: Pardons, Commutations, Executive Orders, Proclamations
Dates in use: February 1, 2024 – January 19, 2025
Documents Signed: Pardons, Commutations, Executive Orders, Proclamations, Public Law 118-60.
Dates in use: January 25, 2021 – May 12, 2022
Documents Signed: Proclamations
Dates in use: March 1, 2021 – May 14, 2021
Documents Signed: Proclamations (less than 10 total)
How the Biden White House determined which autopen signature to use in a given instance or why they decided to change signatures remains a topic for government investigators to uncover. However, we did identify the specific date where the Biden White House appears to have changed from Autopen C to Autopen A. The Biden White House used Autopen C to sign a proclamation on May 12, 2022, and used Autopen A to sign another proclamation on May 13, 2022. Prior to May 12, 2022, Autopen C was the predominant autopen signature. After May 13, 2022, Autopen A became the predominant signature. It is unclear why the Biden White House changed the President’s autopen signature on this date.
President Biden’s Signatures on Bills
The Oversight Project also pulled copies of every enrolled bill signed into law during the Biden Presidency. The video below shows President Biden’s signature on every bill that became law during his presidency. Note the wide discrepancy in how these signatures write President Biden’s name and how it appears that the President’s signature deteriorates over time. These signatures vary so widely, that it cannot be said for certain that the same person signed every document. That is a topic for government investigators to uncover. The signature variation also makes the autopenned signatures obvious because of their uniform letter structure, spacing, and other factors.
Data Analysis
The Oversight Project has completed a comprehensive review of 1,597 presidential documents including all enrolled copies of signed bills, pardons warrants, commutation warrants, Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations.
The following charts display signature analysis, including autopen use, by month and week throughout the Biden Presidency.
Figure 1: Signature Type by Month (All Documents Analyzed)
Figure 2: Signature Type by Week (All Documents Analyzed)
Although nearly all the public laws were wet signed (638/639), documents signed with an autopen device outnumbered those with wet signatures during most weekly and monthly time periods. Autopen signatures exceeded wet signed documents in 65% of all weeks (137 out of 209) and 69% of all months (34 out of 49).
President Biden wet signed shockingly few Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations, Pardons, and Commutations compared to those signed via autopen. Excluding public laws from the data shows that autopen signed documents exceeded handsigned documents in 84.2% of all weeks (176 out of 209) and in 98% of all months (48 out of 49).
Figure 3: Signature Type by Month (Excluding Public Laws)
Figure 4: Signature Type by Week (Excluding Public Laws)
Signature Type by Category Over Time
- Executive Orders: 59.2% (96 out of 162) were signed with autopen, with usage increasing over time, reaching 100% in 2025.
- Presidential Proclamations: 96.3% (718 out of 745) bore autopen signatures, with annual usage consistently above 92%.
- Pardons: 75% (18 out of 24) were signed with autopen.
- Commutations: 51.8% (14 out of 27) were signed with autopen.
- Overall: 88.3% (846/958) of executive orders, proclamations, pardons, and commutations were signed with an autopen.
Executive Orders Signed with Autopen
Proclamations Signed with Autopen
Pardons and Commutations Signed with Autopen
A Disturbing Pattern: Autopen Used while Biden was in Washington, D.C.
Perhaps most concerning is the context of this autopen usage. The Oversight Project found that a significant majority of these autopen signed orders were issued on days when President Biden was physically present in Washington, D.C. Specifically:
- Executive Orders: 80.2% (77/96) of autopen-signed orders were signed while Biden was in D.C.
- Proclamations: 82.5% (593/718) of autopen-signed proclamations were signed while Biden was in D.C.
- Pardons: 66% (12/18) of autopen-signed pardons were signed while Biden was in D.C.
- Commutations: 100% (14/14) of autopen-signed commutations were signed while Biden was in D.C.
- Overall: 82.2% (696/846) of all autopen-signed executive orders, proclamations, pardons, and commutations were signed while Biden was in D.C.
These figures demonstrate that autopen devices were not an occasional convenience but a consistent, dominant practice of the Biden administration, affecting nearly every category of presidential action. A striking 88.3% of all executive orders, proclamations, pardons, and commutations were signed using an autopen, with 82.2% occurring while Biden was in Washington, D.C.. These statistics raise serious questions about who was actually governing the country in light of President Biden’s well-documented mental decline. See below for a more detailed breakdown of these figures.
Executive Orders Signed with Autopen When Biden was in D.C.
Proclamations Signed with Autopen When Biden was in D.C.
Pardons and commutations Signed with Autopen When Biden was in D.C.
Conclusion
America during the Biden presidency experienced a constitutional crisis. We, as a nation, operated for years without a functioning president and instead ceded executive power to a politburo of unelected bureaucrats who exercised presidential power via autopen. These statistics are alarming. The time is now for the Administration and Congress to hold those who orchestrated this coup d’etat accountable.