1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to cosponsor and support the Pardon Integrity Act, a constitutional amendment recently introduced by Rep. Johnny Olszewski that would establish meaningful congressional oversight of presidential pardons. The amendment creates a narrow but essential check on pardon power. It would allow 20 House members and five senators to force a vote to nullify a presidential pardon, with nullification requiring a two-thirds majority in both chambers. This threshold ensures that only pardons with broad bipartisan concern would face congressional review while preserving the president's legitimate clemency authority. Recent pardon controversies demonstrate why this reform is necessary. President Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been serving a 45-year sentence for conspiring to import more than 4.5 billion doses of cocaine into the United States. His pardon was irresponsible at best, and voters took note. The Pardon Integrity Act addresses this abuse without eliminating the pardon power entirely. It simply ensures that egregious misuses can be challenged through the democratic process. Our constitutional system was designed with checks and balances precisely to prevent any single branch from exercising unchecked authority. I ask that you cosponsor the Pardon Integrity Act and work toward its passage. Our democracy depends on checks and balances, and the pardon power should not remain the sole presidential authority immune from congressional oversight.