Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced that he is nullifying all documents signed by autopen during the presidency of his predecessor, Joe Biden, a move that could potentially invalidate a wide range of executive actions issued between 2021 and 2024.

Trump made the declaration on Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform, alleging that Biden relied extensively on the mechanical signature device. “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” he wrote.

He further said he was “cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally.”

Trump did not clarify which directives would be affected or how the review would be conducted. Biden issued 162 executive orders during his presidency, and it remains unclear how many were signed using the autopen or who will be responsible for verifying the signatures.

Under US law, the autopen is permitted for presidential signatures on legislation, executive orders, and other official documents, provided the sitting president authorises its use.

Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Biden did not personally approve many autopen-signed documents, suggesting that aides may have acted without his consent. He also warned that if Biden asserts he was directly involved in the signing process, “he will be brought up on charges of perjury.”

Biden has previously dismissed similar accusations. In June, he said, “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”

Use of the autopen by a president is not without precedent. In 2011, Barack Obama became the first US president known to sign a bill into law using the device while travelling abroad.

In his final days in office, Biden issued several high-profile pardons, including for his son and officials involved in probes related to Trump, decisions that could now face scrutiny under Trump’s new directive.

IANS