I wanted to find out whether a President is required to sign certain documents or not so I researched.
There are a lot of people saying POTUS is not required to sign pardons, the letters to the Senate officially notifying them of a Presidential Appointment (judges, justices, etc.), and other documents. Well - the only thing that is 100% certain is a President is not required to sign pardons. In fact there is not even a requirement for a written pardon - it can be oral, though by tradition it is a document signed by a President.
That said, I found firm evidence that a President is required to sign all official commissions (military, judicial including SCOTUS, and other government officer appointments). Note - that requirement is for the actual commission, which is required to be signed before the appointed (and confirmed) person can take the oath of office and start their job. Presidents are also required to sign all Treaties, Official communications with other heads-of-state, and some other docs I didn't look into.
I give you "The Records Act".
- https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/rbc/rbpe/rbpe21/rbpe212/21201700/21201700.pdf
- also codified in 5 U.S. Code § 2902 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/2902#:~:text=Except%20as%20provided%20by%20subsections%20(b)%20and,commission%20has%20been%20signed%20by%20the%20President.
Section 4 of the Records act states:
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said Secretary shall keep the seal of the United States, and shall make out and record, and shall affix the seal of the United States to all civil commissions to officers of the United States to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or by the President alone:— Provided, That the said seal shall not be affixed to any commission, before the same shall have been signed by the President of the United States. nor to any others
Now, that act was changed, changed back, and otherwise messed with several times in history, but it is still substantially the same. I asked Grok for some context on this and this is what it gave me:
Section 4 is the core provision often cited in discussions of presidential signatures, explicitly mandating that commissions for civil officers must be signed by the President before the Secretary of State can affix the seal. This aligns with Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, which requires the President to "Commission all the Officers of the United States." Legal analyses, including a 2005 Department of Justice memorandum, interpret this as allowing the President to direct the affixing of their signature (e.g., via autopen or facsimile) without personally handwriting it, drawing on common law precedents from the 17th and 18th centuries (e.g., Lord Lovelace’s Case, 1632; Statute of Frauds, 1677) that treat directed signatures as valid. However, the decision to approve or appoint cannot be delegated; only the ministerial act of signing can. Historical DOJ opinions (e.g., from Attorneys General in 1824, 1917, and 1918) and precedents for bills and commissions support this flexibility, emphasizing technological adaptations over strict personal inscription.
Grok cited a DOJ opinion from 2005 on the signing via autopen or facsimile:
The most important part of this section is:
However, the decision to approve or appoint cannot be delegated; only the ministerial act of signing can
That really muddies the water in the case of Autopen Joe. It is known that most documents that were signed as/for Joe Biden were done by autopen (save Hunter's pardon). What is not 100% known is if Biden directed someone to sign them. If it can be conclusively proven that these "signers" were acting on their own authority without Joe's knowledge then ALL OF THEM are void. This would probably take a whistleblower with strong evidence to prove Joe didn't know. It will certainly go to court and probably take a long time to flush out.
Personally I think there is likely a whistleblower (or more than 1) due to the fact that Trump declared all of the autopenned pardons as null and void. That would also bring into play all of the commissions Biden made, including federal judges, KBJ herself, any US Marshals he appointed, any military officers he appointed, and any other officer appointees - including the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and all of it's Directors. It could also affect any bills or treaties he signed - including budget bills.
The big question is - does anyone have the balls to press this?
By the way - the SCOTUS case Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) is important here.
I asked Grok for a brief explanation:
Marbury v. Madison (1803) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review, allowing courts to strike down laws or government actions that violate the Constitution. The case arose when William Marbury, appointed as a justice of the peace by outgoing President John Adams, sued Secretary of State James Madison for failing to deliver his commission under the new Jefferson administration. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that while Marbury was entitled to the commission, the Judiciary Act of 1789—which granted the Court authority to issue a writ of mandamus in this original jurisdiction—was unconstitutional, as it expanded the Court's powers beyond Article III of the Constitution. By denying its own jurisdiction, the Court asserted its power to review and invalidate acts of Congress, shaping the balance of powers in the U.S. government.
You can see why this is relevant to the autopen stuff. President Adams was leaving office but he appointed Marbury as a justice of the peace just before leaving, to try to stick it to incoming President Thomas Jefferson. Well Jefferson wouldn't sign the commission, and James Madison (Jefferson's SoS) couldn't affix the great Seal to an unsigned document.
The relevant part of the Marbury SCOTUS case decision is this:
It is therefore decidedly the opinion of the Court that, when a commission has been signed by the President, the appointment is made, and that the commission is complete when the seal of the United States has been affixed to it by the Secretary of State.
Because the commission wasn't signed (and sealed) the commission was null and void. Sound familiar?
Hopefully this helps explain what needs to be signed by a POTUS, and how it needs to be signed.
Edited for a stupid typo.