Fact check: Which US president used the autopen the most for signing documents?

1. What people are claiming and why it matters — the headline allegations

Reporting catalogues two distinct claim sets: historical notes that several presidents have used an autopen for signing documents, and aggressive contemporary allegations that Biden’s autopen use amounted to improper delegation or concealment. The historical thread lists presidents as far back as Thomas Jefferson and as recently as Barack Obama, and mentions both Donald Trump and Joe Biden using autopens; those pieces do not quantify use by president or provide usage logs ^{[4] [1]}. The contemporary allegations are framed politically: House Oversight Republicans assert that Biden’s staff may have used the autopen to sign significant documents amid declines in his mental acuity, a claim Republicans say raises legal and constitutional concerns about the validity of certain executive actions ^{[2] [5] [6]}.

2. Who’s investigating and what the reports actually say — follow the paper trail

House Republican investigators completed interviews and prepared reports in October 2025 that center on alleged misuse of Biden’s autopen and assertions that aides concealed his cognitive decline; Oversight Chairman James Comer publicly pitched this as a potential scandal ^{[7] [6]}. The GOP documents urged the Department of Justice to open probes and questioned the legitimacy of specific items signed with an autopen, but the publicly summarized reports stop short of presenting a quantified record of autopen signatures or clear evidence that staff acted without presidential authorization ^{[2] [8]}. The reporting dates for these developments cluster in October 2025 and are framed as partisan oversight activity, not as definitive forensic accounting of autopen use.

3. Pushback and alternative readings — legal experts and Democrats respond

Democrats and legal commentators characterize the Republican allegations as political and argue that autopen use, by itself, does not invalidate presidential actions or prove staff usurpation. Coverage notes experts calling Republican claims “preposterous” and stresses that Biden has denied the charge, saying he made decisions personally; these counterarguments emphasize that autopen use has precedent and that allegations require concrete documentary proof linking autopen impressions to unauthorized actions ^{[3] [6]}. The reporting does not present corroborated forensic evidence showing that decisions were made without the president’s involvement, and it lacks a public audit trail comparing autopen signatures to in-person signatures across administrations.

4. Historical context — who used autopens and what’s missing from the record

Journalistic accounts and oversight pieces list multiple presidents associated with autopen use — Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden — but none of the sources provides a comprehensive, time-stamped ledger of autopen signings or a cross-administration tally ^{[4] [1]}. The absence of centralized records, forensic signature counts, or liberally disclosed White House logs in the referenced reporting prevents answering which president used the autopen most. The historical mentions illustrate usage over time but do not supply the dosage, frequency, or types of documents signed by autopen that would be required for a definitive ranking.

5. Weighing evidence — why the question remains unresolved and what would settle it

Current public reporting and GOP oversight material raise questions but do not provide the necessary empirical evidence — system logs from autopen devices, authenticated signature counts, or internal White House records — to determine who used autopen most. Solid resolution would require independent forensic review of autopen device records, metadata for signed documents, and cross-checked timelines showing which documents were executed via autopen versus in-person. Neither the October 2025 oversight reports nor historical pieces cited here include those technical data, so any claim naming a single president as the “most” autopen user would be speculative based on these sources ^{[2] [7] [1]}.

6. Bottom line and recommended next steps for readers seeking clarity

Based on the sources reviewed, no authoritative, recent reporting establishes which U.S. president used the autopen the most; the debate in late 2025 centers on contested GOP allegations about Biden rather than quantified historical comparison ^{[2] [3] [4]}. Readers seeking resolution should look for follow-up reporting that releases autopen device logs, document metadata, or independent forensic audits; absent those disclosures, the question remains unanswered by the available evidence. The partisan framing of the October 2025 investigations underscores that empirical records, not political rhetoric, are the only path to a definitive answer ^{[6] [8]}.