Title: Expressing the sense of Congress that the President does not have the authority under the Constitution to grant himself reprieve or pardon for offenses against the United States.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President does not have constitutional authority to grant himself a pardon or reprieve for offenses against the United States.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 132 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 132

 Expressing the sense of Congress that the President does not have the 
 authority under the Constitution to grant himself reprieve or pardon 
                for offenses against the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2018

Ms. Maxine Waters of California (for herself, Ms. Bass, Mr. Johnson of 
Georgia, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. 
 Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Cohen, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Serrano, and 
   Ms. Lee) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress that the President does not have the 
 authority under the Constitution to grant himself reprieve or pardon 
                for offenses against the United States.

Whereas while article II, section 2 of the Constitution vests in the President 
        the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United 
        States, there is an overriding fundamental common law rule, nemo iudex 
        in causa sua, which holds that no one may be a judge in his own case;
Whereas the Constitution and laws of the United States, and any actions pursuant 
        thereto, must adhere to fundamental and common sense principles of law;
Whereas one of the Framers of the Constitution, James Madison, declared in the 
        10th essay of the Federalist Papers that ``[n]o man is allowed to be a 
        judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his 
        judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity'';
Whereas another Framer of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, wrote in the 
        74th essay of the Federalist Papers that the pardon power exists as a 
        matter of ``humanity and good policy'', and that the President must 
        reflect on ``the fate of a fellow-creature depended on his sole fiat'', 
        which clearly suggests that the President is the grantor of pardons to 
        another, and exercises this power to the benefit of another and not to 
        the benefit of himself;
Whereas understanding the fundamental rules of law, no President in the history 
        of the United States has ever attempted to pardon himself;
Whereas the executive branch, through the Department of Justice Office of Legal 
        Counsel, itself opined in an August 5, 1974, legal opinion that the 
        Executive, the President, cannot pardon himself;
Whereas when faced with the prospect of criminal prosecution, President Richard 
        Nixon appeared to acknowledge the limitations of the President's pardon 
        power as expressed in the August 5, 1974, Department of Justice Office 
        of Legal Counsel memorandum when he resigned without attempting to act 
        contrary to the memorandum;
Whereas if a President were to pardon himself, such an action would directly and 
        inherently violate the common law, as well as the President's duty under 
        article II, section 3 of the Constitution to take care that the laws be 
        faithfully executed;
Whereas no reasonable rationale exist for the Framers of the Constitution to 
        have intended to bestow upon the President the power to exempt himself 
        from accountability to the law; and
Whereas the rule of law is meaningless if any person or entity, including the 
        President, is beyond the law's reach: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the President does not have the 
authority under the Constitution to grant himself reprieve or pardon 
for offenses against the United States.
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