Stop Pardon Abuse Now. Support the Pardon Integrity Act

The Pardon Integrity Act, introduced by Rep. Johnny Olszewski in December 2025, lets 20 House members and five senators trigger a congressional review of any presidential pardon. Congress then has 60 days to nullify it with a two-thirds majority, the same threshold required to override a veto. On February 16, 2026, Rep. Don Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, became the first Republican to co-sponsor it. His words were blunt: “It is clear to me the pardon power has been abused.” Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 January 6 defendants, including people convicted of assaulting police officers. He pardoned five former NFL players convicted of perjury and drug trafficking. He pardoned former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez after a donor tied to her case gave $3.5 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC. Biden’s preemptive pardons of family members before any charges were filed drew bipartisan criticism too. This bill covers all of it. No president should pardon a convicted donor or a family member facing prosecution without Congress having any say. The Founders built accountability into every other major executive power. The pardon was left unchecked because abuse at this scale wasn’t anticipated. Please co-sponsor the Pardon Integrity Act and push for a floor vote. The two-thirds threshold makes bad-faith use of the bill nearly impossible. What it ends is clemency as a personal shield for loyalists, donors, and allies with no accountability to voters.