Justices Broach President’s Self-Pardon Power at Trump Argument

The US Supreme Court has never addressed whether a president has the power to pardon themselves and that unanswered question was one that loomed over proceedings in Donald Trump’s appeal for immunity from criminal prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

During the argument on Thursday, Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that future presidents might be incentivized to pardon themselves before leaving office if their successors can criminally prosecute them for their acts while in office.

“I mean, we’ve never answered whether a president can do that,” Gorsuch said. “Happily, it’s never been presented to us.”

That seemed to ...