In what looks like a desperate effort to shift public focus, Republican Representative Addison McDowell of North Carolina has introduced a new bill called the “Ban on Inkless Directives and Executive Notarizations Act of 2025,” or the “BIDEN Act.”
This proposed law would ban the use of autopen machines for presidential signatures on important documents like finalized bills, executive orders, pardons, and commutations.
The act claims that only the president personally can legally sign such papers. The bill also states that any document signed in the past or future that breaks this rule would be considered invalid, as Fox News reports, as if there’s not bigger news happening with the current sitting president.
McDowell’s decision to introduce this bill comes at a time when there is renewed attention on the connection between President Donald Trump and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Recent reports have brought up a 2003 birthday letter sent by Trump to Epstein, which contained questionable wording. Trump has strongly denied writing the letter, calling it “fake” and warning that he might take legal action.
Republicans are trying to distract you from Trump’s ties to Epstein
Republicans are presenting the “BIDEN Act” as a reaction to concerns that former President Joe Biden used an autopen during his time in office, especially for a high number of pardons and commutations issued in his last weeks as president. Republicans, including President Trump, have attacked this practice, implying that it raised doubts about Biden’s mental sharpness and how much he was personally involved in those decisions.
McDowell’s official statement about the bill says it “will ensure that rogue bureaucrats can no longer take advantage of a mentally incompetent President to seize authority given to the Oval Office,” directly targeting former President Biden.
We're talking autopens on @FOXNashville @RepMcDowell (R-NC) is introducing the
— Johnny Maffei (@MaffeiInTheMorn) July 18, 2025
Ban of
Inkless
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Notarizations Act
or the BIDEN Act pic.twitter.com/Og1TouJxFD
While the legality of presidents using autopens has been discussed before, with the Justice Department previously stating that a president can authorize someone else to use an autopen to sign a bill, this new bill tries to legally ban its use for certain high-level presidential actions.
The “BIDEN Act” seems like an obvious attempt to create a political distraction and steer attention away from the ongoing controversy about President Trump’s past ties to Epstein. The timing of the bill’s introduction, happening at the same time as new media coverage about the Epstein connection, is being viewed by some as a deliberate strategy to change the story.
