1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

According to The Washington Post: “During the first year of his second term, Trump has pardoned some of the most high-profile public corruption and white-collar defendants prosecuted during President Joe Biden’s administration, as well as some prosecuted during his own first term and some under earlier administrations. Among them: former Republican congressman George Santos of New York, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, former Tennessee state senator Brian Kelsey (R), and Trevor Milton, the former executive chairman of electric trucking company Nikola. One of the defining acts of Trump’s return to office has been his sweeping pardons of more than 1,500 people convicted in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including those who assaulted police officers.” According to Congress.gov: “On November 28, 2025, President Donald Trump announced (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115629406693931908) on social media that he intended to issue a "full and complete pardon" to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández. President Trump formally granted (https://www.justice.gov/pardon/media/1419806/dl?inline) the pardon on December 1, 2025, and Hernández was released from prison on the same day, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Hernández had been sentenced (https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/juan-orlando-hernandez-former-president-honduras-sentenced-45-years-prison-conspiring) to 45 years in prison in June 2024 after a U.S. federal jury convicted (https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/juan-orlando-hernandez-former-president-honduras-convicted-manhattan-federal-court) him of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related firearms offenses. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Hernández and his co-conspirators trafficked more than 400 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine through Honduras between 2004 and 2022. In his pardon announcement, President Trump asserted that Hernández had been treated unfairly.” Clearly, some of these Presidential pardons are politically motivated. Clearly, some of these Presidential pardons go against this administration’s purported agenda (e.g. combating narcotraffic). Clearly, Congress must exercise oversight and demand explanations for why these pardons are acceptable and beneficial to our society. Congress could seek information regarding how pardons fit into the Trump Administration's homeland security policy, combatting the flow of illicit narcotics into the United States, and international relations. I urge you to work for our nation more than to blindly support any administration. Congress should speak for us citizens and to represent our best interests. I look forward to hearing how you plan to discharge your responsibilities.