Top Republicans say Trump’s pardons raise 'fundamental questions' about White House process

Republicans are growing annoyed with President Donald Trump's pardons and commutations.

The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump has granted clemency to about 100 people accused of drug-related crimes in his first year in office.

“I wouldn’t have pardoned those people,” Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) said of Reps. George Santos (R-NY), Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Honduran President Orlando Hernández, NOTUS reported. “But I’m not president.”

The Cuellar pardon in particular reportedly triggered “buyer’s remorse” from Trump, who ranted on Truth Social that the Democrat showed “no loyalty” because he refused to switch parties.

Comer's comments come as the House Oversight Committee chair attacks former President Joe Biden’s pardons and commutations, arguing that any signed with an “automatic signature” are invalid and launching an investigation into the practice. NOTUS noted that his criticism of specific Trump cases suggests broader Republican unease with the current wave of pardons.

Comer claimed he has "always been an advocate for pardon reform."

Senate Judiciary Republican Thom Tillis (R-NC) said the pardons prompted “more fundamental questions about the people making the recommendations” to Trump, NOTUS said.

“I wouldn’t expect the president to go through the details of a pardon application,” he said. “But I do expect those who make the recommendations to, and I’ve got some concerns with some of them.”

Leading the effort is Ed Martin, the first political appointee to serve as pardon attorney at the Justice Department, who previously failed to win enough GOP support in the Senate to be confirmed as U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. Still, lawmakers acknowledge they have little power to intervene because Article II of the Constitution gives the president broad authority over pardons and commutations.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” confessed Judiciary Committee member Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) when speaking to NOTUS. “The people are already pardoned. I’m trying to spend my time on things I can do something about.”

“I find it kind of difficult to really weigh in on one pardon or another,” said House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), “because you can probably in any individual case, you could say, ‘Well, of course, that person doesn’t deserve to get out of prison early.’ But that’s gonna be every pardon, pretty much.”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) likewise called the commutation of Santos “wrong decision” in an October discussion with CNN.

“At least he’s doing it up front and during the presidency,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told NOTUS of Trump’s pardons, “as opposed to waiting and granting 1000s of pardons at the very end of his presidency.”

Read the full report here.