In the minutes before his presidency ended on Monday, Biden preemptively pardoned several family members who were targets of a House GOP investigation, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House Jan. 6 committee, and others.

The final acts prompted severe backlash from Republicans, who called the moves an abuse of power, and even some Democrats, who said it set a bad precedent.

However, later on Monday, one of Trump’s first presidential acts was to grant a sweeping pardon to rioters who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including those who violently attacked police.

“​​These people have already served a long period of time and I made a decision to give a pardon,” Trump said to reporters on Tuesday. “Joe Biden gave a pardon yesterday to a lot of criminals. … You should be asking that question.”

The back-and-forth pardons gave several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle whiplash and proof the authority had been overextended.

“The norms for giving pardons have been degraded. Not good for our country,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told the Washington Examiner.

To change the pardon power, an amendment to the Constitution is needed — and that would be difficult given the narrow GOP majorities, as it requires two-thirds support in both chambers to begin the process.

“This place has a hard time getting into 60, I don’t think we’re gonna get to 75 anytime soon, but look — at the end of the day, we have to elect the right leaders, President Trump’s going to do some great things,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said.

Republicans assert they support law enforcement but point fingers at Biden

Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 rioters was one of several policy decisions he vowed to enact immediately upon entering the White House — but not all Republicans, who now hold a trifecta, think it was the right move.

“I’m disappointed to see that, and I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said, referring to the several Capitol Police officers who were injured or killed during the Jan. 6 riots.

Some Republicans hesitated to take a side on the issue, instead offering their support for law enforcement. 

Sen. James Lanford (R-OK) said he thinks “if you attack a police officer, that’s a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he disagrees with pardoning “anybody who was convicted of a violent crime, particularly police officers.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is up for reelection this year, said it’s wrong to assault anybody, “but certainly to assault an officer.” 

“I’m a big ‘Back the Blue’ guy,” Cassidy said.

However, some Republicans, like Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), are blaming Biden for expanding the use of pardons in a “massive way.” The power is granted to the president under the Constitution and applies to most offenses except impeachment.

“Obviously, we knew all along President Trump would exercise it, like most presidents have. And he did,” Thune said.

Following Biden’s controversial decision to pardon his son, Hunter, who was found guilty of federal tax fraud and firearms charges, Democrats and Republicans re-upped requests. Biden granted several, and he holds the presidential record for the most pardons and commuted sentences. 

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a strong ally of Trump’s, did say he would have preferred to see a case-by-case basis for Trump pardoning the rioters. 

“But then I think when President Biden pardoned the Jan. 6 committee for whatever reason and his entire family for whatever reason, suddenly it looks like there’s a lot to be concerned about,” Cramer said. “It seemed much more appropriate for Donald Trump to join him in just sort of clearing the entire deck, and we can move forward now.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) does not think Trump’s pardons should reflect anything regarding how Republicans respect law enforcement.

“President Biden widened the pardon authority,” Capito said. “This president’s using the pardon authority. We’re looking forward and beyond to other policy issues.”

But Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said her overall view is it is a “terrible time for our justice system,” given Trump’s pardons of violent assaulters but Biden “preemptively” pardoning family members, as well.

“We’ve never seen the pardon system in my memory being used in this manner by an outgoing president and an incoming president. … I just think this erodes public confidence, but the pardon power is the fundamental constitutional power of the president,” Collins said.

GOP asks for equal attention on Biden’s pardons

Some Republicans took issue with the fact that all the attention has been placed on Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons instead of Biden’s. Bacon and Collins both pointed to Biden’s commutation of Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents and has been in prison for over five decades.

“Everybody’s asking me about Jan. 6, but none of you guys are asking about the Biden pardons,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said when asked about Trump’s sweeping pardon of the rioters.

Other GOP lawmakers said there needs to be an “equal application of justice.”

“Some of these people have been in jail for a long time,” Moreno said. “Jan. 6 was a long time ago, and they’ve been in jail with their due process rights taken away.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told reporters that Trump’s pardons were a “campaign promise” — something Biden wouldn’t understand.

“Look, he talked about that during the campaign. Joe Biden said he wouldn’t pardon a lot of the people that he did pardon yesterday,” Scalise said. “So, you know, two different styles, obviously — Joe Biden said he wouldn’t do things that he actually did. President Trump’s a man of his word.”

Some Democrats are willing to acknowledge that Biden’s pardons, particularly of his family, may have been an overstep. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) argued, however, that Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 rioters is “much worse.” 

“I mean, in some cases, Capitol police officers died, and Donald Trump feels like he has the right to let them out of prison? I mean, due process, convicted, sentenced — it’s outrageous,” Kelly said.

When asked if Republicans are correct that Biden laid out a precedent for Trump to follow, Kelly said, “Tell me which one of the people that Biden pardoned beat up a Capitol police officer?”

“You’re talking about criminals [who] violently attacked cops. I thought this guy was supposed to be the law and order president,” the Arizona senator added, referring to Trump.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said he didn’t like Trump or Biden’s pardons, arguing they “break all sorts of precedents and norms.”

“That’s the problem, I think, with President Biden’s pardons, is what credibility now do we have to talk about pardons that Trump may issue,” Moskowitz said. “That’s the conundrum we find ourselves in.”

But other Democrats are taking a firm stance against Trump’s decision to pardon rioters.

“Say what you will about President Biden pardoning his family and other members of Congress, but I thought we had a basic idea that those who attacked law enforcement officers would not be given a pardon,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said to the Washington Examiner.

“I even asked these questions of the Judiciary Committee hearing of the new attorney general, Pam Bondi, and she said we got to stand behind every law enforcement officer,” Durbin said. “I don’t think those pardons last night by President Trump did that.”

Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.