Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., calls for the presidential pardon to be eliminated after President Trump pardonedChangpeng Zhao, a tech billionaire who had been convicted of facilitating money laundering, (Getty/IMAGN)
President Donald Trump’s pardoning of Changpeng Zhao, a tech billionaire who had been convicted of facilitating money laundering, is just the most recent controversy over the pardon power. Trump’s pardons for participants in the Jan. 6 riots — coupled with former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardoning of his own family — have invited questions about its proper use.
In light of Trump's record on the power, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said he agreed with Slotkin.
"I one thousand percent agree with her," Lieu said. "It’s been abused."
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U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel (not pictured), on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2025. (Annabelle Gordon/Reuters)
While she wouldn’t support removing the presidential pardons, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA., another member of the Judiciary Committee, would support limiting the power in some way. She acknowledged that any change to it would require a constitutional amendment — a longshot reform that would require supermajority agreement among lawmakers.
"In my mind, it’s about a narrow use," Jayapal said. "It has to be much more tapered, and I’m not sure if you can make it that tapered — I would rather that than get rid of it."
Jayapal noted the country has adopted several constitutional amendments in the past.
When asked if presidential powers still served a purpose, Lieu said he doesn't know exactly, but believes its use has drifted from its original design.
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"Definitely not the role it’s playing now where Donald Trump is pardoning hardened criminals and his friends and allies — that’s not the framers’ vision of the pardon provision," Lieu said.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-senator-divides-party-over-controversial-pardon-proposal