How many federal pardons did Joe Biden grant during his presidency?
Executive summary
President Joe Biden’s administration issued 4,245 acts of clemency during his four-year term, a figure presented by multiple outlets and government compilations as a presidential record [1]. That total includes pardons, commutations and mass clemency proclamations such as the October 2022 and December 2023 marijuana proclamations and a mass commutation of thousands in January 2025; available sources do not provide a single undisputed tally of "pardons" only separate from other clemency actions [1] [2] [3].
1. What the headline number actually represents
The frequently cited 4,245 figure describes "acts of clemency" — an umbrella term that counts pardons, commutations, and large-scale proclamations — not solely one‑off individual pardons signed on a pen [1]. Pew Research Center explicitly frames its headline number as acts of clemency across Biden’s four years [1]. The Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney maintains a running ledger of Biden-era pardons and related actions, listing multiple dates and packages of clemency through January 2025, which feed into that aggregate count [3].
2. Distinguishing pardons, commutations and proclamations
Legal and archival sources treat pardons, commutations and proclamations differently: a pardon forgives an offense, a commutation shortens or removes a sentence, and proclamations can extend clemency to entire classes of convictions [1]. Biden used all three tools: he issued individual pardons and commutations on several dates and also granted classwide relief — notably two mass marijuana‑offense pardons by proclamation in October 2022 and December 2023 — which Justice Department statistics do not always count the same way as other items [1] [3].
3. Major single‑day and mass actions that move the math
Two single actions dramatically increased Biden’s clemency totals. First, the White House and Justice Department documented a mass commutation of 2,490 individuals announced on January 17–19, 2025 [2] [3]. Second, other large commutation packages — for example the December 23, 2024 commutation of 37 death‑row inmates and earlier mass commutations — feed the broader tally compiled by the Office of the Pardon Attorney [4] [3]. These concentrated actions explain how a presidency with relatively few individual pardons by conventional counts can still top the historic aggregate.
4. How many individual pardons did Biden issue? The reporting varies
Contemporary reporting shows different ways to slice the data. Axios reported that "as of early December" Biden had issued 26 individual pardons and commuted 135 sentences, before later mass commutations changed the totals [5]. The White House’s statements from January 19–20, 2025 list a small number of individual pardons in those announcements — for instance one statement said five pardons and two commutations in a discrete release — illustrating that many high‑profile items were individual while others were large packages [6] [7]. In short: available sources document both a modest count of traditional one‑off pardons (dozens) and a far larger total when mass commutations and proclamations are included [5] [2] [1].
5. Political fallout and legal questions that shape how counts are used
The sheer 4,245 figure became fodder for political narratives: critics argue some clemency actions were self‑serving or improperly executed; supporters emphasize correcting sentencing disparities and offering mercy [8] [9]. Later disputes over signature methods (autopen) and whether a successor can nullify prior pardons have surfaced in reporting, but legal experts note there is no straightforward mechanism for a president to unilaterally void a predecessor’s pardons and courts would need to adjudicate validity — and whether autopen was used on specific pardons is contested in reporting [10] [11] [8].
6. What this means for someone asking “how many pardons?”
If your question seeks the total of all clemency actions Biden took, the published aggregate is 4,245 acts of clemency, which includes pardons, commutations and proclamations [1]. If you mean only individually issued presidential pardons signed in discrete announcements, contemporary reporting counts are much lower — Axios cited 26 pardons as of early December 2024, and White House releases list smaller batches of individual pardons in January 2025 [5] [6]. Available sources do not provide a single universally accepted breakdown that reconciles every category into one unambiguous "pardons only" number [1] [3].
Limitations: This summary relies solely on the supplied reporting and government postings; it does not attempt to reconcile post‑administration audits, legal challenges, or later departmental revisions not present in the provided sources [3] [1].