A pro-energy group is raising alarms over who signed eight climate-focused executive orders under former President Joe Biden’s name.
Fox News reported that Power the Future, a nonprofit championing American energy jobs, claims these orders, which reshaped energy policy, may have been inked by an autopen without Biden’s knowledge. The allegations stir questions about transparency and accountability in the highest office.
The nonprofit reviewed eight executive orders, including a 2021 push for net-zero federal emissions by 2050, a 2023 Arctic drilling ban, a mandate for "clean energy" AI centers, and an offshore drilling ban issued just before Biden left office in 2025.
These orders, Power the Future argues, crippled the fossil fuel industry while Biden remained conspicuously silent. No public record shows him discussing these sweeping changes.
This week, the group fired off letters to the Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, Department of Energy, and congressional oversight committees, demanding a probe. They want answers: Who drafted these orders? Who authorized the autopen?
Power the Future’s founder, Daniel Turner, didn’t mince words. “These were foundational shifts in American energy policy, yet not once did Joe Biden speak about them publicly,” he told Fox News Digital. Sounds like someone’s signature was working overtime while the president took a nap.
The group’s letters to Congress pull no punches either. “Congress deserves to know how or whether these executive actions were authorized,” they wrote to House Oversight Chair James Comer. They’re not wrong—voters expect a president, not a machine, to call the shots.
Concerns about Biden’s awareness aren’t new. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed in January that Biden seemed unaware of an order pausing LNG exports during a meeting. If true, that’s less “leader of the free world” and more “where’s my briefing?”
The autopen itself isn’t illegal—presidents can use it to sign bills, per a 2005 Justice Department ruling. Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley noted, “Courts will not presume a dead-hand conspiracy.” Still, when your signature’s on everything but you’re nowhere to be found, eyebrows raise.
A February ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit added fuel to the fire, stating a missing written signature doesn’t invalidate a commutation. But Power the Future argues that’s beside the point—Biden’s silence on these orders smells like a lack of oversight. Or worse, a lack of awareness.
Turner’s take is blunt: “Hundreds of billions of dollars were funneled towards pet green projects, while the American fossil fuels industry was punished, and there is no evidence that Biden ordered it, directed it, or was even aware it was happening.” That’s a lot of green for a president who might’ve been out to lunch.
The controversy dovetails with chatter about Biden’s mental sharpness, amplified by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book “Original Sin.” Republicans have long questioned whether Biden was fully in the driver’s seat. Power the Future’s probe pushes that debate into high gear.
Their letter to Comer puts it starkly: “Actions purportedly taken by the former president may not have been approved or signed by him, but instead promulgated by a small coterie of advisers.” If a handful of unelected aides were steering the ship, that’s not democracy—it’s a shadow government.
President Donald Trump waded in too, claiming in March that Biden’s pardons of January 6 lawmakers were “VOID” due to autopen use. Whether that holds water legally, it keeps the spotlight on who was running the show. The silence from Biden’s office, which didn’t respond to Fox News Digital, isn’t helping.
Power the Future’s not letting this slide. “This autopen scandal is evidence that these green EOs are invalid, and the instigators should be thoroughly investigated by the DOJ,” Turner declared. It’s a bold call, but don’t hold your breath for bureaucrats to investigate themselves.
A Heritage Foundation report alleging that most of Biden’s signed documents used an autopen only deepens the mystery. If true, it’s less about efficiency and more about a president potentially sidelined by his team. That’s a betrayal of trust, plain and simple.
