When has the White House publicly confirmed use of the autopen for presidential signatures?
Executive summary
The White House has publicly acknowledged autopen use for presidential signatures in at least one specific case: President Joe Biden directed the autopen to sign a one-week FAA funding extension in May 2024 while traveling in San Francisco [1]. Longstanding practice and prior public admissions also show presidents — including Barack Obama and Donald Trump — have used autopens for official signatures in the past [1] [2].
1. Presidents have publicly acknowledged autopen use for routine acts
Public reporting and reference materials show autopen use has been openly acknowledged as a tool for presidents to sign legislation and routine items when they are unavailable. The Wikipedia entry notes Barack Obama used an autopen in 2011 to sign a Patriot Act extension while abroad, and it records Biden’s May 2024 FAA funding-extension autopen use [1]. Coverage of prior administrations likewise documents public admissions that autopens are part of presidential practice [2].
2. The Biden autopen episode the White House confirmed
Available sources specifically name a White House-confirmed instance: in May 2024, Joe Biden “directed an autopen be used to sign legislation providing a one-week funding extension for the Federal Aviation Administration” while he was traveling in San Francisco [1]. That item is repeatedly cited in summaries and encyclopedic entries as an explicit, documented example of authorized autopen use [1].
3. Long history and legal backdrop: autopen is lawful with presidential authorization
Reporting and legal commentary in the assembled sources make clear the autopen has been used by U.S. governments for decades and that prior Justice Department guidance has found such devices acceptable provided the president authorizes their use. Summaries and news outlets note autopen use is legal for presidential signatures on legislation and executive acts when the president has authorized it [3] [2].
4. Disputes over whether autopen use was authorized in certain Biden-era actions
House Republicans’ 2025 oversight work and subsequent public statements contend some Biden-era autopen signings — notably late-term pardons and commutations — were executed without confirmed, contemporaneous presidential authorization [4] [5]. The Oversight Committee’s report alleges irregularities and asserts some autopen use lacked proper documentation or clear presidential sign-off [4] [5].
5. Counterpoint: independent outlets and experts find no definitive proof of unauthorized use
Mainstream outlets and analysts quoted in the sources stress the Oversight report did not produce conclusive evidence that key autopen signings occurred without Biden’s consent. Several news reports say there is “no definitive proof” that autopen was used without the president’s knowledge, and that the committee’s probe did not cite direct evidence others signed in his stead [6] [7]. Legal scholars cited in reporting also note presidents have discretion, and courts — not unilateral political declarations — control the ultimate legal status of executive acts [2].
6. Political amplification: claims of widespread unauthorized autopen use meet immediate action and strong rhetoric
After the Oversight findings, President Trump and Republican officials publicly declared many Biden autopen-signed actions “null and void” and threatened prosecutions — rhetoric amplified across partisan outlets and social platforms [8] [9] [10]. News outlets document these moves as political responses to the committee’s report rather than adjudicated legal findings [8] [11]. Opposing outlets characterize the claims as legally dubious and politically motivated [7].
7. What the sources do not show
Available sources in this set do not present a court ruling invalidating any autopen-signed presidential acts, nor a Justice Department or definitive forensic finding that specific autopen signatures were forged or used without presidential authorization. They do not contain primary White House internal logs or signed affidavits proving or disproving the president’s contemporaneous approval for contested documents — those materials are not found in current reporting (not found in current reporting).
8. Bottom line for readers
Documented, public confirmations exist that presidents have used autopens — including a named Biden instance for the FAA extension [1] — and legal precedent treats autopen use as permissible when authorized [3] [2]. The Oversight Committee has alleged unauthorized autopen use in specific late-term pardons [4] [5]; independent reporting emphasizes that the committee’s findings stop short of definitive proof and that subsequent political declarations to nullify those acts are not the same as legal invalidation [6] [7]. Readers should distinguish confirmed, routine autopen admissions from contested allegations that remain politically charged and not yet resolved by courts or definitive forensic evidence [1] [4] [6].