A leading pro-energy watchdog is once again raising the alarm over a series of Biden administration “climate change” executive actions that may not just be disastrous policy; they may also be outright illegitimate.
As PJ Media has previously reported, Joe Biden’s White House frequently used an autopen to sign executive orders and pardons, which raised serious doubts about whether Biden was even involved in the process. Power the Future, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting American energy jobs, believes it has found at least eight examples.
In March, the Oversight Project dropped a bombshell memo detailing 32 instances where the Biden White House used an autopen to sign off on clemency warrants — pardons and commutations that impacted thousands, including preemptive pardons for members of the January 6 Committee.
While Biden spoke publicly about pardoning the J6 committee, Power the Future’s review found no evidence that Biden ever publicly acknowledged eight executive orders that marked major shifts in U.S. energy policy, which suggests that staff may have quietly pushed them through by autopen, without his awareness or involvement.
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If that’s the case, it’s not just a procedural scandal; it’s a constitutional one. And it begs the most disturbing question of all: who’s really in charge, and what else are they signing behind closed doors?
"These are not obscure bureaucratic memos; these were foundational shifts in American energy policy, yet not once did Joe Biden speak about them publicly," Daniel Turner, the founder and executive director of Power The Future, told Fox News Digital.
"During the Biden administration, hundreds of billions of dollars were funneled towards pet green projects, while the American fossil fuels industry was punished, and there is no evidence that Biden ordered it, directed it, or was even aware it was happening in his name," Turner added.
The executive orders reviewed by Power the Future include an Arctic drilling ban in 2023, a 2021 executive order committing the federal government to net-zero emissions by 2050, an executive order mandating "clean energy" AI centers and an offshore drilling ban executive order shortly before leaving office in 2025.
Finding no evidence of Biden publicly speaking about the executive orders on climate, Power the Future sent letters this week to the DOJ, EPA, DOI, DOE, along with the House and Senate Oversight Committees, calling for an investigation to determine who made the decisions, drafted the executive orders and ultimately signed them.
"In light of the growing evidence that actions purportedly taken by the former president may not have been approved or signed by him, but instead promulgated by a small coterie of advisers in his name without his knowledge or over his signature using an ‘autopen,’ the need for congressional access to information has grown in importance with these revelations," the organization’s letter to GOP House Oversight Chair James Comer read. “Congress deserves to know how or whether these executive actions were authorized, and whether the former President was aware of such orders before they were implemented by the federal bureaucracy. Were these actions taken on behalf of the president and purporting to execute his authority undertaken with the president’s knowledge and approach? It appears incumbent upon Congress to inquire, about all parties involved in these actions, who instructed them to do what, when."
As we've noted before, presidents can legally use autopens to sign documents, making challenges to Biden's pardons extremely unlikely to succeed in court, according to constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley. That said, what differentiates Biden's autopen usage from others is, of course, the legitimate questions about whether he was aware of the executive orders and pardons that were signed with the device.
Earlier this year, House Speaker Mike Johnson recounted a disturbing Oval Office meeting with Joe Biden in January 2024, where the president appeared unaware of a major executive order he had supposedly signed. The order, which paused liquefied natural gas exports to Europe amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, had serious national security implications, but Biden denied signing it. When Johnson offered to show him the document, Biden only vaguely acknowledged it, still showing no real understanding of what it entailed. “I thought we’re in serious trouble,” Johnson said. “Who is running the country?”
While other media outlets ignore the autopen scandal, PJ Media is digging deep to uncover who was actually crafting White House policy during Biden's administration. Get unlimited access to our exclusive reporting and analysis by joining VIP today. Use the code FIGHT for 60% off and help us continue holding the left accountable.
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