As Trump Hands Out Pardons, Republicans Begin Planning How To Undo Years Of Government Abuse

While President Trump issues pardons for individuals targeted by the Biden administration, Republicans are gearing up to tackle the past four years of government weaponization, multiple GOP representatives told the Daily Caller.

Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at investigating the Biden administration’s weaponization of the intelligence community (IC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), and he pardoned or commuted the sentences of approximately 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants. He also pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder, who was sentenced to serve two life terms and another 40 years in prison.

Meanwhile, former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Jan. 6 committee members, and Gen. Mark Milley. He also pardoned five family members just before Trump’s swearing-in.

“These pardons and everything that [has] taken place for family members, as well as Fauci and all the [Jan. 6] committee members, this is unbelievable,” North Carolina Rep. Mark Harris told the Caller, adding that Republicans could get an opportunity to subpoena those individuals.

Congress will publicly investigate and expose government weaponization, Republicans told the Caller. (RELATED: As CNN Panel Complains About Trump’s J6 Pardons, Scott Jennings Reminds Them Of Inconvenient Truth)

“We’re going to do the investigative work in exposing and uncovering this in a very, very public way, and then the [DOJ] — which is now going to be politically unbiased and fair in actually upholding the rule of law — can start taking the information that we uncover and then pushing forward with prosecutions,” Texas Rep. Brandon Gill said.

It’s not unusual for Congress to submit aggressive letters and publishing reports on weaponization, but Republicans now have the opportunity to take decisive action.

“There is a time for strongly worded letters,” Kansas Rep. Derek Schmidt told the Caller. “There is a time for reports, but I think this is a time for an act of a substantive law that locks in change, protects liberty and ensures that we’re making a difference, not just for the next few years, but for the next few generations.”

The Biden administration targeted Jan. 6 defendants, a pro-Trump memesmith, Trump himself, Christians and pro-life activists. Conservatives have called on the Trump administration to pardon those targeted by the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

“I think it’s criminal what we have allowed to have happen to people, even to this day, I’m hopeful that perhaps President Trump will pardon these folks that are being held in prison over just being active in the pro-life movement,” Rep. Harris said on Tuesday. (RELATED: Pro-Life Activist Targeted By Biden Admin Escapes Prison Time)

President Trump pardoned 23 pro-life activists prosecuted by the Biden administration on Thursday, just one day before the annual March for Life.

🚨 BREAKING: President Donald J. Trump grants pardons to peaceful pro-life protesters prosecuted by the Biden administration over exercising their First Amendment rights. pic.twitter.com/XwzU4dEJt8

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 23, 2025

Biden’s DOJ was responsible for over a quarter of all prosecutions in the law’s 30 year history, the Caller first reported. Biden’s FBI raided the homes of pro-life Christians Paul Vaughn and Mark Houck.

Biden’s DOJ used a Reconstruction-era law to target its political opponents, specifically the conspiracy against rights charge, which was implemented to protect the rights of recently enfranchised black voters. It employed this law to enhance the sentences of pro-life activists charged under the FACE Act.

“[The FACE Act] is being used as a bludgeon to take innocent people. How you can take someone who is praying on their knees outside of an abortion clinic and have him spend years in jail because of that,” Texas Rep. Brian Babin told the Caller.

“This is a weaponization of this law — misinterpretation, misuse of it, if you will — and it is another example of weaponization [of the] federal government by the wrong people.”

While Republicans seemed optimistic about the next four years, an entrenched bureaucracy may impede their agenda. Congress needs to be more aggressive in using its “power of the purse,” Rep. Gill told the Caller.

“I think that we’ve got to be a lot more, as a Congress, be a lot more aggressive about using the power of the purse,” he said. He pointed to the FBI raiding the homes of pro-life activists and reportedly targeting parents protesting school board meetings.

“I think that until we start playing hardball with them the way they’re playing with us, none of this is going to end,” Rep. Gill added.

Republicans are less trusting of the FBI than Democrats, according to a 2022 poll by the APM Research Lab. The poll also showed that the proportion of Americans who believe FBI agents are fair declined by eight percentage points from 2018 to 2022.

“There are plenty of serious problems that make our citizens’ lives far, far more dangerous, that could use far more resources,” Rep. Schmidt said. “And so I hope we will push federal law enforcement authorities to refocus on those basics and move away from the more political types of work that have been done over the last four years.”

A suspected terrorist who pledged allegiance to ISIS in the summer of 2024 later went on to commit a terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, apparently escaping the bureau’s radar. The New Orleans Field Office was also a staunch supporter of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, according to its social media posts advertising Diversity Agent Recruiting events.

#FBINewOrleans is holding a Diversity Agent Recruiting event and we want to meet you! Agents and FBI executives will provide first hand information about a rewarding career. Apply now to see if you qualify for the July 17th event in Metairie, LA here: https://t.co/wOH9dIvZG8 pic.twitter.com/kDCwaTcdbN

— FBI New Orleans (@FBINewOrleans) June 8, 2024

In addition to the IC being perceived as serving a political agenda, many of its surveillance tools have come under greater scrutiny from Republicans. (RELATED: House Conservatives Tank FISA Vote In Blow To Speaker Mike Johnson)

The FBI surveilled parents protesting school board meetings, former agents previously told the Caller. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was used to spy on a staffer during Trump’s first campaign. FISA Section 702, which allows for the warrantless surveillance of American citizens, has received pushback from many conservatives.

“Quite frankly, in some of my briefings by some of these bureaucracies, I would look at the FBI — there might be a number of agencies across the table from me giving me my briefing — and I looked at the FBI and said, you abused this process,” Rep. Babin told the Caller. “It needs to be changed, needs to be reformed.”

📉 The FBI’s approval rating among Republicans has plummeted in recent years.

What do you think the biggest cause of this is? pic.twitter.com/UhsrA72udd

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 19, 2024

The intelligence agencies have a variety of tools to conduct surveillance, and Rep. Gill argued that libertarian critics of the surveillance state have been “vindicated.”

“Everything they said about the Patriot Act turned out to be true,” he said. “Everything they said about giving virtually unchecked powers to the administrative state for national security purposes has been true, everything they said about that being weaponized against American citizens.”

The Republicans who spoke to the Caller were overall optimistic about the Trump administration and Congress’s abilities to undo the government weaponization of the past four years. However, some acknowledged it will take time before significant changes are enacted.

“I think this is something Trump will begin and get a lot done in four years, but this is probably going to be a long term process,” Rep. Gill said. “You know, we didn’t get here overnight. We’ve had problems with the FBI and CIA for decades.”