A Suggestion: Make the Presidential Pardoning Power Subject to Advice and Consent of the Senate
No checks. No balances. The power to pardon is entirely unfettered.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution provides, in part: “The President...shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
In a system that purports to be one of checks and balances, it has become obvious of late that the pardoning power has neither. It is entirely unfettered.
I believe that both President Biden and President Trump have been (and are) exploiting and abusing the power to pardon. Of late, both men have been twisting it for brazen political purposes.
It’s time to start talking about a constitutional amendment. Let’s add Senatorial review to the Presidential power to pardon.
It so happens that the very next clause (Clause 2) speaks of Senatorial advice and consent for several functions: “(The President)...shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties… (and) appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States…”
Let’s copy the advice and consent phrase of Clause 2 and insert it into Clause 1, as follows: “The President...by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” (Emphasis added.)
To be certain, a constitutional amendment is a very, very heavy lift – as well it should be. We don’t want to allow casual changes to our foundational document.
Under Article V, a proposed amendment requires a two-thirds vote by each Congressional chamber and subsequent ratification by three-quarters of the states. (It should be noted that Article V also provides an alternative: two-thirds of the states can call for a “Convention for proposing Amendments.” But that’s never been done.)
It would of course take years to insert successfully an advice and consent function into the pardoning power. But I daresay that the time has come for serious consideration.
What the hell is a ""preemptive pardon" other than permanent immunity from prosecution for those whom the president favors?
This dangerous idea, that the president can nullify the concept of equal justice under the law, became established when President Gerald Ford granted what amounted to permanent legal immunity to the criminal Richard M. Nixon back in 1974.
This disgusting assault upon the idea that every citizen is subject to the rule of law without respect to his or her political or economic or social prominence has initiated a perverse tradition that has been invoked by later presidents, including most recently Genocide Joe Biden and his fellow draft-dodger-in-chief Donald "Bone Spurs" Trump, who have used their alleged right to pardon and/or immunize from prosecution and incarceration to protect political cronies who have been involved in crimes that threaten the very fiber of our democratic principles.
No person is above the law. Anyone who says otherwise is an enemy of the Constitution.