GOP Committee Chair Wants To ‘Invalidate’ Biden’s Marijuana Pardons Through Autopen Investigation, Democratic Congressman Says

Biden marijuana pardons face an autopen investigation—a fight over ink that’s really about power, memory, and who gets to say the past is over. In the wee hours of Capitol logic, Rep. Jerrold Nadler accuses House Oversight Chair James Comer of trying to invalidate thousands of lawful pardons for federal marijuana possession, even as Comer nods to the racist roots of cannabis enforcement and applauds a presidential order to shove marijuana toward Schedule III. It’s a D.C. two-step: talk reform, test the brakes. The federal posture is nothing if not contradictory, the same bureaucracy that greenlights a rescheduling push while keeping the industry boxed out of lifelines like small-business financing—see the record on that in Feds Defend Decision To Block Companies That Work With Marijuana Industry From Participating In Loan Program. The stakes are not theoretical. They’re people’s apartments, job offers, and second chances, all hanging on whether a signature counts.

Rescheduling won’t jailbreak the past

Nadler is blunt: cannabis rescheduling from Schedule I to Schedule III is bookkeeping, not absolution. It may loosen some research chains and soften tax handcuffs, but it won’t touch the ground-level realities of criminal records or the bodies still caught in low-level marijuana offenses. That’s why he’s pushing the MORE Act—expungement, decriminalization, a real grappling with marijuana policy reform instead of just changing the label on the bottle. He’s done the math before; the bill cleared the House twice. But in today’s Congress, the odds look like a bartender’s shrug right before last call. Meanwhile, you can watch the market’s weird gravity at work: when policy gets muddled and access pinched, patients drift. New Jersey’s medical registry thinning out is a cautionary tale worth a hard look in New Jersey Medical Marijuana Program Sees Steep Drop In Registered Patients.

• Rescheduling won’t end federal criminal penalties.
• Rescheduling won’t expunge cannabis records.
• Rescheduling won’t free people incarcerated solely for low-level marijuana offenses.

Autopen, intent, and the fine print

The new wrinkle is procedural—almost comically so, if it weren’t so consequential. A committee report zeroes in on the “autopen,” the mechanical surrogate that’s long helped presidents keep up with the conveyor belt of clemency and executive orders. The claim: if a clemency grant was signed by autopen without clear written proof the president personally approved it, maybe it shouldn’t count. Couple that with a call for the Justice Department to review all such actions—especially pardons—and you’ve got a bureaucratic tripwire stretched across people’s futures. It’s not just about cannabis; it’s about the government deciding whether its own rubber stamp was too rubbery. Still, the marijuana pardons are right there, front row, because they’re recent, high-profile, and tethered to a national argument about justice that refuses to fade.

The politics of contradiction

There’s irony thick enough to spread on toast. On one hand, a presidential order presses the attorney general to wrap up cannabis rescheduling. On the other, an investigation could yank back marijuana pardons that were supposed to clear the debris of petty possession from people’s lives. Comer’s own rhetoric acknowledges racial disparities in enforcement—a rare admission in the GOP caucus—yet he’s wary of what he calls overreach in equity-centered legalization plans. That tension is everywhere in cannabis: rhetorical sympathy paired with policy hesitation. You can watch the same movie in state fights, where leaders talk order and caution while grassroots try to claw back restrictive rules—case in point: Ohio Governor And GOP Senator Criticize Activists Pushing Referendum To Reverse Marijuana And Hemp Restrictions. The throughline is control—who sets the pace, who gets the benefit of the doubt, and who waits at the curb.

What moves the needle?

If you’re looking for a roadmap, it’s probably not one grand gesture but a series of unromantic, necessary turns: protect the pardons outright, codify expungement for low-level cannabis offenses, and write into law that a president’s documented intent counts—autopen or not. Then tackle the infrastructure problems that make federal cannabis law feel like a maze with missing exits. There’s room for bipartisan beats here; surgical reforms aimed at veterans and patients still find oxygen, like the proposal explored in Florida GOP Senator’s Bill Would Expand Medical Marijuana Law By Waiving Fees For Veterans And Making Patient Cards Last Twice As Long. Rescheduling may help the balance sheets and research labs, but justice—the kind that unburdens a background check or unlocks a lease—comes from laws with teeth. Until Congress actually chews, the cannabis debate remains a late-night booth in a half-empty diner: big talk, cold coffee, and a tab that never goes away. If you’re ready to navigate the legal landscape with compliant options while this saga unfolds, visit our shop.