Lawmakers are responding to President Joe Biden’s record presidential pardon spree, with over 3,000 sentences commuted or pardoned, including those to members of his own family. Pennsylvania state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Dallas, called the pardon of disgraced Judge Michael Conahan, known as the “kids for cash judge,” “disrespectful to the victims, their families, the juvenile justice system, and to all the officials who have worked to reform the system so that this kind of scandal cannot happen again.”
Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., expressed concerns over the pardon spree, saying it sets a “dangerous precedent” that undermines the presidential pardon power. Meuser stated that the power is enshrined in Article II of the Constitution and that Congress has no power to intervene or change it. He also criticized the pardons given to Biden family members, saying it was an “implicit admission of wrongdoing.”
Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., who flipped Biden’s home district in November, expressed similar concerns, stating that the former president’s actions were “discouraging.” Pennsylvania state Sen. Lisa Baker is participating in the drafting of legislation to remove Biden’s likeness from part of his home area, including the “President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Expressway” in Scranton. Baker believes Biden’s legacy is “stained” by Conahan’s “inexplicable and infamous commutation” and that the honor should be replaced with someone who is truly deserving.
