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Fact check: How many pardons did Joe Biden grant in 2024?
Executive summary
President Biden’s December 12, 2024 clemency action pardoned 39 individuals and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people, a single-day measure the administration described as the largest modern clemency action [1] [2]. Broader tallies reported by third-party analysts and compilations use different definitions — “pardons,” “commutations,” and the broader phrase “acts of clemency” — and therefore produce widely different totals for 2024 and for Biden’s full term, producing apparent contradictions in the datasets cited [3] [4] [5]. To answer “How many pardons did Joe Biden grant in 2024?” the most precise and verifiable figure in the contemporaneous official materials is 39 pardons on December 12, 2024, while aggregate datasets purporting to count all pardons in 2024 or across his term must be parsed carefully for definitions and scope [2] [1].
1. What different sources are actually claiming — and why it looks inconsistent
Multiple documents and news reports describe the December 12, 2024 action as granting clemency to nearly 1,500 people while pardoning 39 individuals convicted of nonviolent offenses; the White House fact sheet and contemporaneous reporting present this as a single-day commutation-and-pardon package [2] [1]. Other materials cited in the supplied analyses present summary tallies that vary widely: a February 2025 study and a Pew Research analysis describe Biden as having granted 80 pardons over his four-year term and as having issued more “acts of clemency” than prior presidents [3]. A Wikipedia-style compilation and a separate aggregate figure cite 4,245 acts of clemency for Biden’s presidency, a number that conflates different legal measures and appears to count every individual relief action across the administration [4]. These differences create the impression of contradiction, but they stem largely from inconsistent definitions and scopes across sources.
2. The clearest official datapoint: the December 12, 2024 fact sheet
The White House fact sheet from December 12, 2024 explicitly lists the measures taken that day: 39 pardons for people convicted of nonviolent offenses and commutations or other clemency measures affecting nearly 1,500 individuals who had been placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic [2] [1]. That document is contemporaneous, specific, and narrowly focused on that single action, making it the best primary-source answer for the question about pardons issued during 2024 that are documented publicly on that date. If the question intends “How many pardons did Biden grant in that 2024 action?” the answer is 39, as stated in the administration’s own materials [2] [1].
3. Why aggregated counts diverge and produce higher totals
Aggregated totals such as “80 pardons over four years” or “4,245 acts of clemency” come from analyses that use broader definitions or count discrete legal acts differently — for example, counting each commutation, each pardon, and related administrative clemency decisions as separate items, and sometimes including home-confinement placements or administrative compassion measures that are not formal pardons [3] [4]. Some compiled datasets appear to count every person affected by mass commutation or home-confinement orders as an individual “act” and may include post-office adjustments or historical record consolidations. The Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney maintains case-level records, but public summaries and older posted statistics can be incomplete or categorized differently, which produces divergent public counts [6] [5].
4. How to read these numbers responsibly and where to go for verification
To avoid conflation, distinguish between “pardon” (a formal forgiveness restoring civil rights), “commutation” (shortening or ending a sentence), and the broader term “act of clemency” (an umbrella term covering pardons, commutations, reprieves, and administrative relief). For a firm, documentable count: rely on contemporaneous administration fact sheets and the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney case logs for itemized, date-stamped entries [2] [6]. For comparative or aggregate analyses, consult peer-reviewed or institutional reports that explicitly define their counting rules; otherwise, aggregated figures like 80 pardons across a presidency or 4,245 “acts” will remain ambiguous unless the methodology is stated [3] [4].
5. Bottom line answer and recommended citation for future questions
Direct answer: The administration’s official December 12, 2024 action pardoned 39 people and commuted or otherwise provided clemency to nearly 1,500 people; that is the clearest, verifiable 2024 pardons datapoint in the provided materials [2] [1]. Broader tallies claiming dozens, hundreds, or thousands of pardons or “acts of clemency” reflect differing counting methods; treat those numbers as estimates unless they supply a clear methodology and link back to primary DOJ logs or dated White House statements [3] [4] [5]. For confirmation, consult the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney case lists and the White House fact sheets tied to specific dates.