The unprecedented use of pardons by former President Biden on his last day in office coupled with President Trump’s sweeping pardon of violent Jan. 6 offenders on his first has sparked renewed scrutiny of the singular power.

At the stroke of pen, both presidents’ acts of clemency marked a stark departure from the status quo, stretching the already vast limits of the pardon power and raising alarm among critics and allies alike.

Just hours apart, both Biden and Trump issued a flurry of pardons.

On Monday morning, Biden pardoned a series of figures he feared would face prosecution under the second Trump administration, including epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff retired Gen. Mark Milley, and all nine members of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

Then, in an order released as Biden arrived at the Capitol for the inauguration ceremonies, the outgoing president used his final minutes in office to unexpectedly pardon his brother and other members of his family.

Some Democrats criticized Biden’s moves as overreaching.

“I have sympathy for President Biden, but I don’t know that the extent of the pardons he granted was necessary, and I don’t think any of us can be satisfied with the way that Trump or Biden used the pardon authority, one of the most extensive and sweeping executive powers that are available today,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), even as he said “there are real unique threats that are presented to the Biden family by Trump's obsession with targeting his political opponents.”

Trump took his turn later Monday evening, issuing a series of pardons and commutations that cleared the slate for the more than 1,500 people facing charges in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. It was a move........

© The Hill