President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn before departing the White House, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) signed on Monday to co-sponsor a Democrat-led bill to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Congress to oversee presidential pardons aimed at pushing back the president. of Donald Trump A highly controversial use of the president’s pardon power.
The House of Representatives introduced the bill. Johnny Olszewski (D-MD) last December and would allow at least 20 House members and five senators to call for a congressional review of the pardon, which would give Congress a 60-day deadline to revoke the pardon with a two-thirds majority — similar to a veto override.
Olszewski announced his bill, the Pardon Integrity Act, listing Trump’s most controversial pardons, including a blanket pardon for those involved in the January 6 riots — including those who violently attacked police officers.
“None of us should accept as normal practice that the president, any president, uses his executive pardon power to free convicted drug kingpins, those convicted of violently attacking law enforcement officers, and even money laundering crypto magnates with ties to the president’s family business,” Olszewski said in his speech:
However, this is exactly what President Trump did. On his first day in office, President Trump pardoned 1,500 people involved in the January 6 Capitol attack. Since then, he has pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly 90 others. Recently, he added a former Honduran president JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ On that list. Hernandez was serving a 45-year sentence for conspiring to smuggle more than 400 tons, or 4.5 billion doses, of cocaine into the United States. Hernandez was also convicted of taking bribes from violent drug cartel members to fuel his political career, shielding them from prosecution in exchange for bribes.
Olszewski announced that Bacon had joined his bill, writing, “The Constitution does not give any president the right to place himself above the law. I am proud to have Congressman Bacon join this effort, because protecting democracy and maintaining justice should not be a partisan issue. When the pardon power is abused to protect criminals and political allies, Congress has a responsibility.”
“This amendment creates a narrow, common-sense check to ensure that the pardon power is exercised fairly and responsibly, regardless of who occupies the White House,” he added.
Bacon, a former Air Force general who is not seeking re-election in his swing district, added, “Presidential pardons are an important constitutional right, but like all powers in the executive branch, these officers benefit from the proper checks and balances envisioned by the Constitution. In several administrations, we have seen legitimate questions raised about how Congress has exercised this power. It has been undermined.”
“Frankly, this is clearly an abuse of the pardon authority to me. I am happy to support Representative Olszewski’s Pardon Integrity Act, a constitutional amendment that would preserve the power of pardons. Bacon’s support for the measure allowed Trump to pardon NFL players convicted of various crimes, including drug trafficking.
Bacon is also behind a bipartisan bill to return tax-making power to Congress alone, following the original wording of the Constitution.
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