As Republicans attack former President Joe Biden for his use of automated writing machines to sign official documents, the use of autopens appears widespread among members of Congress.
Congressional Republicans and the Justice Department have launched investigations into Biden’s practice of utilizing an autopen to sign pardons, commutations, and other official documents, part of an effort to prove his age impaired his ability to make decisions.
But a review of congressional expenditure reports by The Dispatch shows that both Republican and Democratic members of Congress have in recent years made payments to companies that produce automatic signature tools, suggesting autopens are a popular labor-saving tool on Capitol Hill. Those who have paid such companies for their services also include retired or deceased members whose ability to do their jobs was questioned toward the end of their tenure, but younger lawmakers have made such payments, too.
Vice President J.D. Vance’s office confirmed that he used an autopen when he was a senator.
“Republicans are investigating whether rogue staffers usurped the powers of the presidency by issuing pardons without the knowledge or consent of senile and incompetent President Joe Biden,” a spokesperson for Vance told The Dispatch in a text message. “It’s ridiculous that the Dispatch would try to distract from this scandal by harping on about then-Senator Vance using an auto pen for documents that he personally reviewed and approved.”
The list of senators who also paid for autopen services includes Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Jim Risch of Idaho. Members of the House have also done so, including Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
But the widespread presence of the machines in congressional offices apparently doesn’t mean all representatives are on board with its use.
“We do have it, and have not used it once,” a spokesperson for Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania told The Dispatch. “It was purchased thinking that it might be useful for mass ceremonial purposes like flag and scout certificates, etc., when not feasible for the Congressman to sign timely and personally, like he wants to. The autopen is extremely inconvenient and time-consuming, and not remotely useful, and the Congressman never authorized it for anything else. In fact, we asked about returning it and are seeing if we can transfer it to another office who may want it.”
The first version of the autopen was invented in 1803, and President Thomas Jefferson used the more rudimentary model to write two copies of a letter at once. Over the years, it evolved into the modern type, which has become commonplace in the White House. President Lyndon B. Johnson allowed reporters to photograph the device. President Barack Obama was the first chief executive to use the autopen to sign a bill into law, in 2011.
As they’ve attacked Biden, Republicans have acknowledged that using the machine in and of itself presents no scandal, but claimed that Biden is a special case. His cognition was in such decline, they argue, that it was staff who made the decisions to give pardons, some before any legal action had been taken against the recipients, or commutations to about 4,000 people at the end of his term, not the former president.
Biden has said that he “made every single one of those” decisions and noted that other presidents, including Trump, have used the tool, often when they are traveling and their signature is required on time-sensitive legislation or other documents.
Lawmakers are no different in occasionally needing a way to quickly sign large volumes of documents. NBC News reported this month that Rep. James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee who is leading the chamber’s investigation into Biden’s use of autopen, has signed some letters and subpoena notices related to the investigation with a digital signature he did not create. “Comparing Chairman Comer’s use of digital signatures for letters to the unauthorized use of an autopen in the Biden White House for legally binding executive actions is absurd and misleading,” a committee spokesperson told the outlet, noting that Comer always applies a wet signature to subpoenas themselves—without autopen. “The two are not even remotely comparable.”
But other legislators who may have been infirm toward the end of their time in office also paid automated signature companies for their services, an indication they were using autopen. Former Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, now 82, made at least 12 payments to Damilic, which calls itself “The Autopen Company,” between 2011 and 2024. Her office’s last payment came in September 2024, which was after she cast her final vote in Congress in July. After Texas-based news outlets reported she had missed months of votes, her son revealed in December last year that the 14-term congresswoman was residing in an assisted living facility and was suffering from “dementia issues.” The Dispatch requested comment from Granger’s former chief of staff and communications director, but neither responded.
Aside from Perry’s and Vance’s offices, none of the other offices that made payments to autopen companies responded to requests for comment.